Coucy-le-Château refresh

Coucy-le-Château refresh
region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Aisne
Arrondissement	Laon
Canton	Vic-sur-Aisne
Community association	Picardy des Châteaux
Coordinates	49 ° 31 ' N , 3 ° 19' E Coordinates: 49 ° 31 ' N , 3 ° 19' E
height	47-147 m
surface	11.46 km 2
Residents	1,014 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	88 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	02380
INSEE code	02217
Website	www.coucy.com

Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique is a French commune with a population of 1,014 (as at 1st January 2017) in the department of Aisne in the region of Hauts-de-France ; it belongs to the arrondissement of Laon and the canton of Vic-sur-Aisne .

geography

The community is about 15 kilometers north of Soissons , above the Ailette valley. The Ailette and the parallel Oise-Aisne Canal form part of the southern border of the municipality.

history

Ruins of Coucy around 1860, drawing by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

In the Middle Ages it was the ancestral seat of the powerful Barone de Coucy, including Enguerrand III. and Enguerrand VII. de Coucy . In its time Coucy Castle was one of the most important fortifications in Europe and had the world's largest residential tower with the donjon, which is more than 50 meters high . During the Fronde , the castle was partially destroyed in 1652 because of the refusal to submit to Louis XIV by Mazarin's troops and abandoned as a castle. In 1917, German troops blew up the huge round tower and other buildings of the core castle at the Alberich company , a front relocation in the First World War , and badly damaged the huge facility. Today it is only preserved as a ruin.

The extremely self-confident motto of Enguerrand III, who was also said to have a certain interest in the French throne, was "Roy ne suis, ne Prince, ne Duc, ne Compte aussy - je suis le Sire de Coucy!" - "I am not king, no prince, no duke, not even a count - I am the lord of Coucy! ”His successors also took it as a motto.

The municipality of Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique was created in 1921 from the merger of the municipalities of Coucy-le-Château and Auffrique-et-Nogent .

From 1793 until the nationwide reorganization of the cantons in 2015, Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique was the main town (French: chef-lieu ) of the canton of Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique .