Gonfaron
Gonfaron | ||
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region | Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur | |
Department | Var | |
Arrondissement | Brignoles | |
Canton | Le Luc | |
Community association | Cœur du Var | |
Coordinates | 43 ° 19 ′ N , 6 ° 17 ′ E | |
height | 98-766 m | |
surface | 40.42 km 2 | |
Residents | 4,318 (January 1, 2017) | |
Population density | 107 inhabitants / km 2 | |
Post Code | 83590 | |
INSEE code | 83067 | |
Website | http://www.gonfaron.net |
Gonfaron is a French municipality with 4318 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Var in the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur . It belongs to the canton of Le Luc in the Arrondissement of Brignoles .
Culture and sights
- Campanile on the clock tower from 1850
- Church Immaculée Conception ( Immaculate Conception ), 1865 consecrated
- Chapel Saint Quinis , repeatedly renovated and remodeled recently in 1849
- War memorial
The legend of the flying donkey
Gonfaron is known for the legend of the flying donkey , which dates back to the 17th century. According to this legend, a nagging resident of the community refused to ensure that his house was kept clean on the occasion of the annual procession in honor of the patron saint Saint Quinis: if Saint Quinis was not clean enough, he should jump over it. Some time later, this citizen's donkey threw him off while jumping, which was taken as the punishment of Saint Quinis.
SOPTOM's turtle village
The municipality is also known for its turtle village (Le Village des Tortues), which is run by the SOPTOM project ( Station d'Observation et de Protection des Tortues des Maures ), which aims to research and protect the Greek tortoise , the conservation of natural habitats and the care of traffic and fire victims as well as the preparation for the reintroduction of some animals that have been in captivity for a long time.
Personalities
- The automaker Henri Julien , born in Gonfaron in 1927 , founded the Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (AGS) racing team in 1968 , which competed in various racing classes up to Formula 1 until 1991 . The Circuit du Var , which still exists today, was created on his initiative . Henri Julien, together with Bernard Boyer, has been the world record holder in the Racer 500 class since September 1997 at a speed of 222.557 km / h.