Franchise

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Franchise
Franchesse (France)
Franchise
region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department Allier
Arrondissement Moulins
Canton Bourbon l'Archambault
Community association Bocage Bourbonnais
Coordinates 46 ° 35 ′  N , 3 ° 10 ′  E Coordinates: 46 ° 35 ′  N , 3 ° 10 ′  E
height 214-277 m
surface 27.62 km 2
Residents 471 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 17 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 03160
INSEE code 03117
Website Franchise

Church Saint-Etienne

Franchesse is a central French town and municipality ( commune ) with 471 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Allier department in the north of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region .

location

The place Franchesse is located in the fertile and wooded landscape of the Bourbonnais at an altitude of about 315 meters above sea level. d. M. The city of Moulins is about 30 kilometers (driving distance) to the southeast; the city ​​of Nevers in southern Burgundy is about 50 kilometers north. The municipality owns several hamlets ( hamlets ) and individual farms.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2012
Residents 726 675 552 539 532 451 453 456

In the 19th century the number of inhabitants rose from around 1,000 to just under 1,400. Due to the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture , the population of the municipality then fell continuously to the lows of the last few decades.

economy

For centuries, the inhabitants of Franchesse, who were mostly dependent on the monastery, lived as self-sufficient farmers from agriculture, which also included viticulture; in addition there were regional retail trade and handicrafts. During the phylloxera crisis at the end of the 19th century came the viticulture temporarily ground to a halt, but are now being produced again red, rosé and white wines on the appellation de Val Loire ' are marketed. Some of the vacant houses in the village have been converted into holiday apartments ( gîtes ).

history

The remains of three country estates ( villae rusticae ) from Gallo-Roman times have been discovered in the municipality , but it is possible that the privileged place ( franchises ) did not come into being until the Middle Ages; it was fortified and surrounded by trenches. The three absidial church is considered to be dependent on the Cluniac priory Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul in Souvigny .

Attractions

Choir section with three apses , transept and crossing tower
West facade of the church
Nave

The former priory and today's parish church of Saint-Etienne is - with the exception of precision machined cornerstones and the three apses of the choir area and the Portal Zone - from stone- erected building of the 12th century by about 50 meters overall length; it has a choir area with three apses, a transept with a crossing tower , the basement of which is only clad with blind arches , whereas the sound arcades or windows of the bell storey open in all directions. While the east part of the church is richly structured, the west facade shows only a portal protruding from the wall with an arched window above it and two lateral oculi ; the tympanum is a 19th century work. The nave of the church is with a conical buoy arched, the Seitenschiffjoche have groin vault and the transept ends with a four squinches dormant dome arching upwards. The three round-arched apse windows sloping downwards are framed by decorative columns that are connected to one another by small gable arches ('bishop's hats '); The usual dome arch spans over it . The variety of abstract, vegetable and figurative capitals is interesting : One shows an extraordinarily simple 'Virgin with Child' ( sedes sapientiae ); to the side of her two animal heads can be seen. The building was recognized as a Monument historique as early as 1886 .

literature

  • G. Giraudet, G. Borderioux: Essai monographique sur Franchesse. Depuis ses origines jusqu'à la revolution. Crépin-Leblond, Moulins 1935 (reprint. Des Figures & des lieux, Dompierre-sur-Besbre 2004, ISBN 978-2-914632-13-3 ).
  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de l'Allier. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 1999, ISBN 2-84234-053-1 , pp. 46-49.

Web links

Commons : Franchesse  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Étienne, Franchesse in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)