Genouillé (Vienne)

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Genouillé
Genouillé (France)
Genouillé
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Vienne
Arrondissement Montmorillon
Canton Civray
Community association Civraisien en Poitou
Coordinates 46 ° 6 ′  N , 0 ° 20 ′  E Coordinates: 46 ° 6 ′  N , 0 ° 20 ′  E
height 116-179 m
surface 29.80 km 2
Residents 512 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 17 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 86250
INSEE code 86104

Site with Church of Notre-Dame

Genouillé ( Occitan : identical) is a western French city and a municipality ( commune ) with 512 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Vienne in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

The place Genouillé is about six kilometers (driving distance) south of the canton capital Civray at an altitude of about 140  m  above sea level. d. M .; the formerly important Benedictine abbey of Charroux , which was dissolved and largely destroyed before the French Revolution , is only nine kilometers to the northeast.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2012
Residents 888 800 681 589 537 511 521 534
Source: Cassini and INSEE

In the 19th century the community usually had between 1,200 and 1,500 inhabitants; the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture led to a loss of jobs in the first half of the 20th century and a continuous decline in the population to the lows of the last few decades.

economy

For centuries agriculture , which was formerly mainly self-sufficient , has played the largest role in the municipality's economic life. Are grown wheat , barley and corn as well as rapeseed and sunflower oil recovery. About 25% of the total area of ​​almost 2000 hectares is reserved for the cultivation of feed, which is needed by the ranchers in the area. Some vacant houses were converted into holiday apartments ( gîtes ).

history

Little is known about the history of the place; the place name suggests a Gallo-Roman origin. The existence of a Romanesque church suggests a medieval settlement.

Attractions

Church of Our Lady
  • Built in the 12th century and in the 15th century with a flat closing Gothic choir provided Parish Church of Our Lady was probably the nearby Abbey Charroux assigned. An interpretation of the church as a priory church is not explicitly documented, but the overall appearance and above all the elaborate architectural decoration of the west portal makes a classification as a pure parish church seem rather doubtful. The most striking component is the two-storey west facade, the upper floor of which, however, was renewed in the 18th or 19th century. On the other hand, the ground floor, which ends with a partially figuratively designed console frieze , shows an enormous decorative and figurative wealth: the capital zone and the inner arch of the multi-tiered portal show lions, griffins and hybrids ( chimeras ); these continue laterally. The front of the second archivolt is adorned with figures ( prophets and angels ) whose gaze is directed upwards and who thus seem to be watching an ascension ; the outer arch presents leaf and tendril motifs. During extensive excavation and restoration work between 2007 and 2009, further remains of figurative building jewelry came to light inside the church. The facade of the church was included in the list of historical monuments in 1914 ; the remaining parts followed in 1996.

  • Wall decoration on the left

  • Archivolts of the portal

  • Archivolts of the portal (detail)

  • Wall decoration on the right

  • In the immediate vicinity of the church there is a house with a mighty late medieval stair tower on the side , which - as usual - was built as a round tower .

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Vienne. Volume 1, Flohic Editions, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-128-7 , pp. 69-73.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Notre-Dame, Genouillé in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)