Ferrières-en-Gâtinais
| Ferrières-en-Gâtinais | ||
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| region | Center-Val de Loire | |
| Department | Loiret | |
| Arrondissement | Montargis | |
| Canton | Courtenay | |
| Community association | Quatre Vallées | |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 6 ' N , 2 ° 47' E | |
| height | 72-121 m | |
| surface | 15.87 km 2 | |
| Residents | 3,687 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 232 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 45210 | |
| INSEE code | 45145 | |
 Ferrières - Abbey Church of St-Pierre-et-St-Paul |
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Ferrières-en-Gâtinais is a French municipality with 3687 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Loiret in the region Center-Val de Loire . In documents from the Middle Ages, the name was also Monasterii Bethlehem sive Ferrariarum , later - until 2001 - the place was simply called Ferrières.
location
Ferrières-en-Gâtinais is located on the Cléry river , a tributary of the Loing, and is about 105 kilometers (driving distance) in a south-easterly direction from Paris and about 100 kilometers in a north-east direction from Orléans . The closest larger town is Montargis (about 14 kilometers south).
Population development
| year | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2012 |
| Residents | 1473 | 1806 | 2367 | 2896 | 3045 | 3296 | 3530 |
The small town's continued population growth in recent decades has a lot to do with the fact that Ferrières is located at the intersection of three motorways (A 6, A 19 and A 77).
economy
Due to the favorable transport connections (there is also a train station on the Paris - Montargis route) and low land prices, various small and medium-sized companies have settled in the Zone Industrielle von Ferrières, which was created in 1970 .
Since the 13th century, saffron production played an important role in the life of the local population; It is known that Louis XIV valued saffron from the Gâtinais. At the end of the 20th century, saffron production was revived - partly for tourist reasons. In addition, there were several tanneries on the outskirts until the 19th century.
history
Stone Age finds from the area around Ferrières show that the area was already roamed by hunters and gatherers in prehistoric times. In ancient times, Ferrières was located on the so-called Chemin de César , an important east-west connection in the center of France.
It was already a well-known and important place where the monks of the early Middle Ages founded their monastery, which then became the core of the gradually developing town. While the abbey was largely independent in its decisions, the former parish of St-Eloy von Ferrières was subordinate to the Archdiocese of Sens in northern Burgundy . Ferrières has been part of the Orléans diocese since 1802 .
Attractions
- Abbaye Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul : The history of the abbey is said to go back to the building of a basilica by the Frankish king Clovis I (466-511), of which nothing more is known. It is certain that in the 7th century, students of St. Columban founded a monastery here. The Carolingian kings Ludwig III. († 882) and his brother Karlmann († 884) were crowned here in 879 by the Archbishop of Sens - one as King of France and Neustria , the other as King of Aquitaine and Burgundy . Today's building is the result of several renovation and new building attempts; However, it essentially comes from the 12th (nave) and 13th century ( crossing and choir ). While the former three-aisled nave was destroyed by the English in the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) and by the Protestants in the Huguenot Wars (1562–1598), it now only has a single nave and is closed in a wooden vault with tie rods . H. designed as a central building , crossing area and the choir equipped with Gothic rib vaults . The south wall of the nave was provided with late Gothic tracery windows during the 15th century . The original glazing of the windows in the east apse dates from the 16th century.
- Église Notre-Dame-de-Bethléem : The church also belongs to the former abbey district; it comes from the 12th century and has survived the times better than the abbey church immediately adjacent. Unadorned on the outside and with only one nave on the inside, it has a beautiful altar from the 17th century by Gilles Guérin , in which the missionaries St-Savinien, St-Potentien and St-Altin - the companions and students of St. Columban and alleged founders of the Klosters - are shown. The former west tower of the church collapsed in 1839 because it was in disrepair.
- Grange aux dîmes : To the north of the steeple of the abbey church, there is a tithe barn , in which in the Middle Ages and later until the French Revolution the taxes of the serfs were received and stored.
meaning
Ferrières Abbey was one of the most important monasteries in France in the Middle Ages due to its long and royal history; several popes stayed there temporarily and their scriptorium was well known in Europe at the time. Due to the absence of pilgrims as a result of the various war damage, however, its fame sank into oblivion, so that it is only known to a few today. Due to its unusual crossing octagon, it may have an architectural connection with the Palatine Chapel of Charlemagne in Aachen and the Charroux Abbey, which is about 350 kilometers away .
literature
- Marcel Aubert: Ferrières-en-Gâtinais. In: Congrès archéologique de France. 93e session. Orléans, 1930 (Société Française d'Archéologie, Paris 1931) pp. 219–232
