Mornac-sur-Seudre

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Mornac-sur-Seudre
Mornac-sur-Seudre (France)
Mornac-sur-Seudre
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement Rochefort
Canton La Tremblade
Community association Royan Atlantique
Coordinates 45 ° 43 ′  N , 1 ° 2 ′  W Coordinates: 45 ° 43 ′  N , 1 ° 2 ′  W
height 0-13 m
surface 9.50 km 2
Residents 841 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 89 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 17113
INSEE code 17247

Mornac-sur-Seudre - the townscape with Saint-Pierre church

Mornac-sur-Seudre is a municipality in southwestern France with 841 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region . The place is one of the most beautiful villages in France .

location

The center of Mornac-sur-Seudre is located on the Arvert peninsula belonging to the historic province of Saintonge on the north bank of the Gironde south of the Seudre river at an altitude of approx. 10 m above sea level. d. M. and is about 12 km (driving distance) north from Royan and 40 km west from Saintes .

Population development

year 1800 1851 1901 1954 1999 2013
Residents 650 621 930 647 652 831

The population decline in the first half of the 20th century is mainly due to the loss of jobs as a result of the increasing mechanization of agriculture .

economy

For centuries, Mornac-sur-Seudre was shaped by fishing , agriculture and viticulture, whereby in earlier times the self-sufficiency of the residents was in the foreground. The vines grown in the area belong to the Bois ordinaires et communs within the Cognac wine-growing region , but in recent decades they have mostly been marketed as wine under the Charentais appellation or as liqueur wine under the name Pineau des Charentes . In the meantime, viticulture has almost completely come to a standstill in the municipality. Instead, important industries are oyster farming and sea ​​salt extraction . Tourism has played an important role in the municipality's economic life since the middle of the 20th century.

history

A Gallo-Roman estate ( villa rustica ) was discovered in the municipality through aerial photographs .

In the 11th and 12th centuries the small town experienced a certain boom due to fishing and salt production. A castle ( château ) and an imposing parish church were built and the place was surrounded by a 650 m long city ​​wall ( remparts ). A priory called Saint-Nicolas was built outside the city walls. The place and castle were repeatedly besieged in the following years and finally captured by Protestant mercenaries in 1622; The Romanesque priory church also suffered considerable damage. Until the Edict of Nantes (1598) was repealed by the Edict of Fontainebleau (1685) under Louis XIV , the population remained largely Protestant; after that many emigrated to the American colonies or other European countries.

Attractions

Eastern part of the Saint-Pierre church
Market hall

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Mornac-sur-Seudre

  • The mighty medieval parish church forms the center of the village. While the west facade and the single nave nave are rather unadorned, the crossing and the transept with its adjoining apses form the architectural highlight of the building. The much larger central apse is emphasized by vertical half-column templates , a horizontally running block frieze and an interrupted round arch frieze ; at the top it ends with a surrounding console frieze . The apse windows show ornamented overlapping arches ; the mighty crossing tower received - probably already in the time of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) - new structures. The nave was originally vaulted, but the vaults collapsed at some point, so that a wooden roof structure had to be installed later. The pointed helmet on the crossing tower, still visible in old photos, burned down in 1943. The church building was classified as a monument historique in 1948 .
  • The cemetery was once behind the church; a stone head sarcophagus can still be seen.
  • The medieval market hall ( hall ), which is bevelled in the corners and thus forms an elongated octagon, rests on 32 brick pillars. It served the population not only to hold markets, but also as a meeting place and festival place. The roof structure was renewed in the second half of the 20th century.
  • The Protestant temple, which was destroyed several times and rebuilt in unadorned forms after the revolution in 1837, is a bit away from the town center. It was enlarged in 1863/4.
  • There is no trace of the former castle and the city walls.

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 2, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 755-757.

Web links

Commons : Mornac-sur-Seudre  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mornac-sur-Seudre - Viticulture
  2. ↑ Eglise Saint-Pierre, Mornac-sur-Seudre in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)