Le Bernard

Le Bernard
region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Vendée
Arrondissement	Les Sables-d'Olonne
Canton	Talmont-Saint-Hilaire
Community association	Vendée Grand Littoral
Coordinates	46 ° 20 ′ N , 1 ° 28 ′ W Coordinates: 46 ° 20 ′ N , 1 ° 28 ′ W
height	2-55 m
surface	27.37 km 2
Residents	1,216 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	44 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	85560
INSEE code	85022
	; Saint Martin Church

Le Bernard is a western French village with 1,420 inhabitants (as of January 1 2017) in Vendée in the region of Pays de la Loire . The community consists of several hamlets ( hameaux ) and individual farmsteads .

location

The place Le Bernard is only about four kilometers (as the crow flies) from the Atlantic coast and is at an altitude of about 20 m above sea level. d. M. The next larger city is La Roche-sur-Yon , about 29 kilometers (driving distance) to the north ; the well-known seaside resort of Les Sables-d'Olonne is about 35 kilometers to the north-west. The neighboring town of Avrillé is only about six kilometers away.

Population development

year	1800	1851	1901	1954	1999	2013
Residents	597	928	989	787	623	1,226

In the years around 1900 Le Bernard had a population of around 1,000; thereafter it sank to around 550 in the 1970s and 1980s and rose to its highest level at the beginning of the 21st century.

economy

The place and its surroundings were dominated by agriculture for centuries; most people lived on a self-sufficient basis ; In the village itself, various craft and service professions developed . In the late Middle Ages and early modern times, in addition to farming and a little cattle breeding, viticulture was practiced on a small scale , but this was almost stopped after the phylloxera crisis in the late 19th century. Since the 1960s, tourism has played an important role in the economic life of the municipality in the form of renting holiday apartments ( gîtes ).

history

Several dolmens and menhirs attest to the presence of people in the Neolithic . The foundations of a thermal bath and a country estate ( villa rustica ) have been excavated from Roman and Gallo-Roman times ; the stump of a watchtower stands in the middle of a field. A Romanesque church was built in the 12th century .

Attractions

The great menhir

The Romanesque parish church of Saint-Martin was mostly built from roughly hewn rubble stones ; only parts of the apse , the crossing tower and the entire facade are made of precisely hewn granite stones. The small stair tower on the side is plastered. The church has two false gables over the west facade and over the back wall of the flat-closing apse. A horizontal console frieze runs over the portal . The slightly pointed barrel vault of the nave has been stripped of plaster. The apse closes with a late Gothic tracery window . In 1927, the church was recognized as a monument historique .

Dolmen La Frébouchère

outside

There are several dolmens in the vicinity of the village (e.g. Dolmen de la Cour-du-Breuil , Dolmen des Pierres Folles du Plessis ), including those recognized as historic monuments . But the three dolmens of Savatole , only 300 m north of the village, are also worth seeing.
Two neighboring 7.5 and 4.0 m high menhirs ( Menhirs du Plessis ) are also located in the municipality.
The stump of a Gallo-Roman watchtower stands in a field; it has been classified as a monument historique since 1935 .

literature

Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Vendée. Flohic Editions, Volume 2, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84234-118-X , pp. 1129-1132.

Web links

Commons : Le Bernard - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Le Bernard - Viticulture
^ Église Saint-Martin, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
↑ Dolmen de la Cour-du-Breuil, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
↑ Dolmen de la Frébouchère, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
↑ Dolmen de la Pierre Folle du Plessis, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
↑ Menhirs du Plessis, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
^ Tour gallo-romain, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[1] Le Bernard - Viticulture

[2] Église Saint-Martin, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[3] Dolmen de la Cour-du-Breuil, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[4] Dolmen de la Frébouchère, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[5] Dolmen de la Pierre Folle du Plessis, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[6] Menhirs du Plessis, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

[7] Tour gallo-romain, Le Bernard in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)