Massiac
| Massiac | ||
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| region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | |
| Department | Cantal | |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Flour | |
| Canton | Saint-Flour-1 | |
| Community association | Hautes Terres | |
| Coordinates | 45 ° 15 ′ N , 3 ° 12 ′ E | |
| height | 511-1,005 m | |
| surface | 34.78 km 2 | |
| Residents | 1,745 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 50 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 15500 | |
| INSEE code | 15119 | |
| Website | www.massiac.fr | |
 Village view |
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Massiac is a French commune of the department of Cantal in the region of Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . Administratively it is assigned to the arrondissement of Saint-Flour .
geography
The place with 1745 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is located at the confluence of the three rivers Alagnon , Alagnonnette (also called Igoune ) and Arcueil in the far east of the Cantal department on the border with the Haute-Loire department . The Cézallier mountains begin in the west and the Margeride hills in the east . In the north, two basalt cones complete the valley. These geographical and tectonic peculiarities brought the village the nickname Porte fleurie du Cantal ("Flower Gate to the Cantal").
Massiac is located on the north-south European route 11 , which corresponds to the A75 autoroute , and connects Clermont-Ferrand (distance 60 kilometers) with Montpellier (distance 190 kilometers). The Massiac train station is on the Figeac- Arvant railway line , a stop belonging to the municipality of Bournoncle-Saint-Pierre , with links to Clermont-Ferrand.
The place is in the valley at 530 meters and is rather dry with an average rainfall of 676 mm / year. With an average annual temperature of 10 ° C, it is relatively mild despite strong annual fluctuations, in contrast to the environment, which is characterized by the mountain climate.
Although Massiac has a village center, it is actually a historically grown scattered settlement . The municipal area is very large with around 35 square kilometers. The following districts can be identified in the center of the village: Brousse , Bussac , Cours , La Croix Verte , La Grande Planche , Le Graveiras , Le Montel , Quartier nègre , La Prade , Le Pré Juny and La Ribeyre . There are also numerous hamlets, namely: Auliadet , Bousselorgue , Le Boutirou , Chabannes , Chalet , Chevaley , Le Fayet , Le Lac , Malet , Ouches , Prugnes , Le Puy Francon , Sabatey , La Sagne , Saint-Étienne , La Valette , Vazerat , Le Verdier , Vialle-Chalet and La Vialle-Vieille .
history
Late antiquity and toponymy
Around the year 260 the area of Saint Mary ( Mary le confesseur ) was evangelized. Little by little, the region was Romanized and around the year 300 a Gallo-Roman settlement emerged at the confluence of the Alagnon in the Allagnonette. It was called mattii acum (the territory of the Lord Matthew), which later became Massiac. The name researcher Ernest Nègre lists the following toponyms: Massiacensi , Maciacensis (9th century) and Maciago (953).
middle Ages
In 532 the Franks invaded the area and founded their own settlements around Massiac. The story of the next few centuries is in the dark.
In 893 Armand I. d'Apchon , Vice-Count of Auvergne, received the barony of Vernières, to which Massiac was also subordinate. In the same century, a viguerie and a monastery were established on site. In 1169, when the Auvergne was broken up and divided up by King Louis VII , Massiac also split into three parts: The Le Montel fief (now part of the municipality) went to the Montel family (they were vassals of the prince who now crowned it belonging area in Auvergne received as apanage → Duchy of Auvergne ), the historic Massiac and today's village center went to the Apchon family (they were vassals of the Dauphins d'Auvergne ) and the La Tour d'Ally fief was given to the Rochefort d'Ally family ( they were vassals of Mercœur de Blesle → Duchy of Mercœur ). In the course of the Hundred Years War , the English invaded the area in 1361 , but were able to get by Guillaume VI. d'Apchon to be stopped in Maurs . 1420 married Guillaume III. d'Espinchal , lord of Les Ternes , Marie de Rochefort d'Ally and took their fief as a dowry . On May 24, 1429, Pierre de Tinière , Lord of Massiac, agreed to the election of a consul and the formation of a community assembly; This courtesy is considered to be the hour of birth of the Massiac community. The traditional bailiffs were weakened, the act of territorial formation shifted away from the landed gentry to the city. As a result, Massiac received a city wall.
During the Praguerie , Massiac was attacked and captured by Jean Salazar , Baron of Chaudes-Aigues . Forty residents of the city are said to have died defending the city walls.
Modern times
On October 6, 1584, Margueritte d'Apchon married the last heiress of the family, François I d ' Espinchal . The two cities were then united and the Espinchal dynasty ruled Massiac ever since. On April 16, 1623, the family also acquired the fief of Le Montel .
The later family representative Gaspard d'Espinchal was sentenced to death in 1666 by the Tribunal des Grands jours d'Auvergne (a special court under the Ancien Régime ) for abuse of power and oppression of the population together with numerous other bailiffs in the region. Gaspard was able to flee to Bavaria in time and the judgment was only carried out in effigy . His fortified lock was then razed. Gaspard was appointed army commander in the Electorate of Bavaria , and in this function spied on France's behalf. For this service he was pardoned by King Louis XIV in 1678 and reinstated in office and dignity.
Massiac experienced the worst disaster in 1694, when a quarter of the population (allegedly 251 people) was swept away by one of the last waves of plague in Europe.
Recent history
On November 14, 1801, the citizens of Massiac demanded in a legitimist act with a petition the return of their Count Thomas Joseph d'Espinchal . The Espinchal family had exiled with the Prince of Condé when the French Revolution broke out . 1792, the Count of formed in the Auvergne joined the coalition , which the Count of Artois and later King Charles X supported. Previously, Thomas Joseph d'Espinchal lived in Paris, where he led a sophisticated and glamorous life. His return to Massiac in 1803 was the occasion for great festivities. In 1812 he was elected mayor, an office he held until his death in 1823. The count is buried in the church of Saint-André von Massiac.
Jean Rieuf notes in his book Massiac et son Canton that Massiac only knew two ruling families during the feudal period : the Apchon and the Espinchal.
In 1861, Massiac became the southern terminus of the newly built Clermont-Ferrand railway line. For the construction of the tracks, the Alagnonnette had to be diverted and a bridge and a new road had to be built. These signs of industrialization have profoundly changed the face of the area. Massiac, a trade fair town since the Middle Ages, then experienced an additional economic boom.
coat of arms
Blazon : In azure a güldnener Cross bewinkelt three pole as asked, chalice leafless ears of the same color, two in chief and one in the footer.
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2009 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 1741 | 1756 | 1884 | 1838 | 1881 | 1857 | 1841 | 1718 |
economy
In Massiac you can find orchards (especially apple trees) and vegetable gardens. Sheep and cattle are also raised and cheese is made. A snail farm is also part of the village. Lately one tries again in viticulture.
The chemical companies Sociétés SAGA and SAGA Médical have been controlled by Air Products & Chemicals since 2010 . Even under the new management, gases for industrial and medical applications will continue to be extracted and filled. There is also a metalworking company and a handcrafted wool weaving mill.
Attractions
Saint-André church
Architecture and equipment
The parish church of Église Saint-André in the center of the village of Massiac dates back to the 15th century. In its construction it is similar to other churches in Basse-Auvergne, which were built around the same time. The sacred building consists of three naves and two side chapels. The sacrament chapel is on the left and is decorated with a large portrait of the Virgin Mary by an unknown artist. In the chapel on the right, a painting draws attention to the fact that the church is dedicated to John the Baptist and the Apostle Andrew . In a barred niche, a brightly painted wooden Madonna statuette from the 15th century, which originally adorned the Sainte-Madeleine de Chalet chapel , can be seen. Another wooden statuette of the Madonna is kept in a showcase. This gem, found by chance during logging in 1954 near the Sainte-Madeleine chapel, dates from the 14th century.
The main facade with the portal was built in 1860 by the architect Étienne Aigueparse in neo-Gothic style.
history
The Saint-Jean chapel served as a parish church until the 11th century. She stood in the center of Massiac, in the place that still bears her name today. Christian worship was neglected in the years around 1200, instead the population adhered to pagan customs and practiced a sun cult , worshiped the goddess Isis , the holy cow, and went on pilgrimages .
The parish of Saint-André came into being shortly after that in the Bonnac priory , probably on the initiative of Antoine and Marguerite de Rochefort d'Ally . The parish church was first documented by Géraud de Rochefort d'Ally in a deed of foundation for the Rochefort priory from 1141. Soon afterwards, the monks of Rochefort fortified the church with a tower. This was called Tour d'Ally and was attached directly to the church. From a legal point of view, the prior of Rochefort, who sometimes stopped by on important ecclesiastical days, was pastor of Massic. The pastor in charge was different and was appointed by the Bishop of Clermont . The diocese of Saint-Flour , to which the parish of Massiac was later attached and which in turn was subordinate to the Archbishop of Blesle , dates back to 1317.
The church was gradually expanded, but had to give way to a larger building in 1319. In the course of the Hundred Years War , the church was set on fire under the rule of King Charles V by gangs from Gascogne , who were allied with England . Although this destroyed the church archive, the church was quickly rebuilt. On September 28, 1379, the Bishop of Saint-Flour, Pons de Rochefort d'Aurouze , approved the collegiate monastery of Saint-André. At first it was endowed with twelve, later with eight canons . In 1448 they rebelled against the pastor, but in 1476 the latter prevailed and the collegiate was dissolved again in favor of a parish. In May 1440, Jean Salazar, Baron de Chaudes-Aigues and enemy of the Dauphin of Auvergne , set fire to the church after sacking Massiac and killing forty residents of the city.
Only the chevet ( apse ) and the lateral south gate remain of the church in 1140 . These parts are made of reddish tuff . The members of the Espinchals family, who ruled Massiac from 1584, are buried under the church. In 1870 the church was rebuilt and greatly expanded. During this redesign, numerous stylistically questionable additions and the old bell tower had to give way. The Tour d'Ally fortification tower was replaced by the current tower and the main portal was completely redesigned. The most recent restoration took place in 1971. The plaster was removed so that the pierres dorées (limestones that shimmer golden thanks to their iron oxide content) came out again.
Chapel of Sainte-Madeleine
Location and architecture
The chapel Chapelle castrale Sainte-Madeleine de Chatel perched on a rocky outcrop of basalt overlooking the valley of Alagnon and the place Massic. The hamlet of Chalet is 400 meters to the south on a high plateau.
The Romanesque building dates back to the 12th century and is adorned with a free-standing bell tower and a gate . The floor plan consists of a nave with a barrel vault and two side chapels. The southern chapel dates from the 13th, the northern one from the 14th century. The chapel opens into a hemispherical apse , which is raised by two steps. The vault is decorated with a fresco depicting the Majestas Domini in a mandorla . The church, which was restored in 1894 and a second time from 1980 to 1983, has been a French cultural monument since 1982 .
history
The history of the chapel is closely linked to the ruling De Chalet family , who originally called themselves Chalès-le-chastel . The word Chalès is derived from the Iberian cala and means “fortress made of stone”.
The building never had the status of a parish church, but only served as a castle chapel . This stood at the end of a small inner courtyard, near the main gate opposite the fortifications that the Lords of Mercœur had built earlier. The location was strategically chosen: from up there you could watch the valley and the two kilometers away Roman road from Gergovia to Toulouse .
On December 1, 1471, Guillaume de Flageac , Abbot of Pébrac , accompanied by Antoine de Léotoing-Mongton , Bishop of Saint-Flour , arrived to bless the chapel. The bishop then took up residence in the castle of Chalès and died there on December 4, 1482, when the area was ravaged by the plague . He was buried with great pomp in a tomb carved into the basalt rock. His remains were later transferred to the cathedral of Saint-Flour by his nephews .
Legend
For some believers, the place on the name day of Mary Magdalene (July 22nd) is the destination of a pilgrimage. The legend tells that two anchorites , St. Victor and St. Madeleine, lived as hermits on each of the basalt rocks facing each other . Although they didn't really want to meet, they still felt the need to exchange views on religious topics. Madeleine therefore stretched out her prayer beads over the cliff and the miracle happened: A splendid bridge formed, which allowed the two to get closer.
Saint-Victor church
The hamlet of Bussac with its church Église Saint-Victor de Bussac towers high above Massiac . In the middle of the 17th century a chapel was built in Bussac, which forms the choir of the present church. The church had to be enlarged in 1852. The choir windows are signed “JF Faure (1861)”. After Bussac was connected to the parish of Massiac, the church lost its parish status, but was still used for masses. The building has a neo-Gothic ribbed vault with broken arches . The interior is remarkable, especially the painting and the furniture, which is still complete and authentic today. The building has been a French cultural monument since 1998.
Other facilities
- Remains of the medieval fortification belt and the castle
- The Musée Élise Rieuf was a painting school for women in the 20th century. Today around 200 works (mostly watercolors ) by the painters Élise Rieuf and Charlotte Musson are on display there.
- The Musée d'Archéologie et de Minéralogie
- The publicly accessible goldsmith's art collection in the parish hall ( Mairie )
Attractions
- The macaroons of Massiac are considered local specialty.
- There is a market every Tuesday.
- The cherry fair, paired with a fair, is held on June 9th.
- The Johannifest is celebrated on June 24th .
- The apple fair takes place at the end of October, combined with a music and theater spectacle.
- Massiac is on the Via Arvernha from Clermont-Ferrand to Cahors (506 kilometers). It is one of the branches of the Camino de Santiago in France.
Partner municipality
- Faura , Valencia Province , Spain
literature
- Jean Rieuf: Massiac, son origine, ses seigneurs, sa paroisse, sa commune. Imprimerie Moderne, Aurillac 1958.
Individual evidence
- ^ Ernest Nègre : Toponymie générale de la France . Volume 1: Formations préceltiques, celtiques, romanes (= Publications Romanes et Françaises. 193). Librairie Droz, Geneva, 1990, p. 472.
- ^ Jean Rieuf: Massiac et son canton. Éditions Gerbert, Aurillac 1971.
- ↑ Note inside the church
- ↑ Entry no. PA00093541 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ^ Jean Rieuf: Massiac et son canton. Éditions Gerbert, Aurillac 1971, p. 9.
- ↑ Entry no. PA15000008 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ^ Website of the Musée Elise Rieuf
