Niort

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Niort
Niort coat of arms
Niort (France)
Niort
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Deux-Sèvres ( Prefecture )
Arrondissement Niort (Chief Lieu)
Canton Niort-1 (main town)
Niort-2 (main town)
Niort-3 (main town)
Community association Niortais
Coordinates 46 ° 20 ′  N , 0 ° 28 ′  W Coordinates: 46 ° 20 ′  N , 0 ° 28 ′  W
height 2-77 m
surface 68.20 km 2
Residents 58,707 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 861 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 79000
INSEE code 79191
Website www.vivre-a-niort.com

Niort [njɔʁ] is a French commune in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine . It is the administrative seat ( prefecture ) of the Deux-Sèvres department , capital (Chef-Lieu) of the Niort arrondissement and also the capital of the three cantons Niort-1 , Niort-2 and Niort-3 .

geography

location

The western French city with 58,707 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is located on a fertile plain on the edge of the Marais Poitevin marshland , 63 kilometers north of La Rochelle on the Sèvre Niortaise river , whose winding valley has recently been converted into a green belt .

Originally the whole area around Niort was a swamp area. The Atlantic Gulf of Pictons slowly retreated inland over a width of 30 kilometers and merged with the Sèvre Niortaise, which meanders in this flat area . Numerous islands emerged in the landscape, but they were covered with brackish water almost all year round . From the 11th century, the swamp was gradually drained, with Benedictine monks from various local abbeys doing their best. During the Hundred Years War and the Huguenot Wars , this work largely ceased. It was not until the beginning of the 17th century that drainage was resumed under the French King Henry IV with the help of Dutch engineers. Over the course of the generation, 80,000 hectares of marshland were drained.

Niort is located in the Parc interrégional du Marais poitevin , which was founded in 1979 under the name Parc naturel régional du Marais poitevin as a natural park with the aim of protecting the ecologically sensitive landscape in the area. At the end of 1996 the status of "nature park" was revoked again, which explains the name change.

climate

The climate is oceanic , so the winters are mild. The long-term average is 1934 hours of sunshine and 890 millimeters of precipitation. Fog occurs on 49 days.

Incorporations

Between 1964 and 1972 the following four municipalities merged with Niort: Souché on June 21, 1964, Sainte-Pezenne on April 16, 1965, Saint-Florent on January 1, 1969 and Saint-Liguaire on January 1, 1972.

history

Toponymy

The place name is derived from a Celtic ( Gallic ) term, which reads novioritum in Latin . It is a combination of the two words novum for 'new' and rito for 'ford'. The place name Niort is thus to be understood as the 'new ford' (on the Sèvre).

coat of arms

The azure background is studded with golden fleurs-de-lis . In the foreground is a silver fortification tower, which is crowned by a smaller tower of the same color, both towers are bricked in black. The whole thing is carried by a silver river in the base of the shield.

Prehistory and Antiquity

Neolithic ax made of polished eclogite . Find from Niort, exhibited in the Muséum de Toulouse

Settlement of the region has been documented for the Neolithic and early Gallo-Roman times, with the archaeological finds condensing in the loop of the Sèvre Niortaise . When dating the objects, it is noticeable that the chain broke off shortly after the Roman conquest of Gaul (which is atypical for the area), so that it can be assumed that the settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC. It is not known why the place, which used to be a trading center, was dropped by the Romans. In the 5th century, at the time of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire , the area was held by the Visigoths . In 507, after the Battle of Vouillé , the Visigoths were driven out by the Franks .

middle Ages

The first written records of Niort date from the 6th century. It mentions two hamlets on the hill, called Notre-Dame and Saint-André . The elevated location promised protection at a time when political structures were almost completely absent. In peaceful times, the Sèvre could be used as a trade route and in troubled times you had at least an overview of the valley and some protection from the oncoming hordes. In 940 Niort was sacked by the Normans .

From the High Middle Ages, the city was under the county of Poitou , which later became part of the Duchy of Aquitaine . Eleanor of Aquitaine first married the French King Louis VII (1137), later - after the divorce - the later English King Henry II (1152) and brought the duchy as a dowry in the respective crown domain . In 1204 the townspeople defied the now elderly Eleanor from a letter of freedom. Since then Niort has been subject to a so-called consulate . Eleonore's husband Heinrich II and their son Richard the Lionheart had the citadel fortified with a 2,800 meter long wall. In 1244 Niort became French again. In 1285 the city received the status of a free port. In the course of the Hundred Years War , Niort successfully fended off the attack by Henry of Grosmont , 1st Duke of Lancaster, in 1346 , but was handed over to the English in the Peace of Brétigny in 1360 . Bertrand du Guesclin finally took the city on March 23, 1372 for France. He is said to have used a ruse: two hundred of his bravest soldiers were dressed in English uniforms. The duped guard then lowered the drawbridge and the camouflaged French vanguard began to disarm the English.

During the uprising of the nobility against King Charles VII , an event known as Praguerie and in which the Dauphin was also involved, the latter set up camp in Niort in 1440 in return for granting numerous privileges to the population. The former Dauphin confirmed these concessions as well as the market and trade fair rights in 1461 as King Ludwig XI. from France.

In the 14th century Niort owed its fame to the town's weavers and tanners . Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the shipping area was expanded under the direction of Count Jean de Berry and the Sèvre waterway was better connected to the Atlantic. During this time, Niort experienced a marked increase in population; salt, fish, wheat, wool and hides were exported to Flanders in Burgundy and Spain .

Modern times

In 1557 the Huguenots were able to assert themselves in the city, but after the battle of Moncontour in 1569 Niort was defeated by the Catholic troops of the French King Charles IX. taken. The night of December 27-28, 1588 was very bloody for the city: The Huguenot leaders Louis de Saint-Gelais and Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné invaded Niort with their mercenaries and there was murder, looting and arson. In 1627 Niort became Catholic again, but Protestant nests of resistance could remain in the city until 1685. However, many Huguenots preferred to flee, with Canada as the country of exile in the foreground. As a result, Niort became an important hub for hides and skins, which were traded to the Indians in North America. This trade came to a standstill in the mid-18th century when France lost Canada in the Seven Years War . Nevertheless, on the eve of the French Revolution, there were around thirty fulling mills in the city for the production and refinement of fabrics, leather and felt and more than thirty cavalry regiments in Niort at that time equipped themselves with lederhosen.

Recent history

Niort's leather industry gradually declined and died out entirely in the 20th century. During the liberation of France in World War II on June 7, 1944, around 40 people lost their lives in a misguided bombardment by the Allies. The real goal would have been the marshalling yard and a detonator factory operated by the Wehrmacht .

Population development

local community 1936 1946 1954 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2010
Souché (incorporated in 1964) 1,217 1,423 1,589 2,386
Sainte-Pezenne (incorporated in 1965) 1,819 2.118 2,365 3,029
Saint-Florent (incorporated in 1969) 2,448 2,790 2,876 3,644 4,925
Saint-Liguaire (incorporated in 1972) 1,237 1,323 1,390 1,945 2,590
Niort 27,830 32,752 33,167 37,512 48,469
Niort (today's extension) (34,551) (40,406) (41,382) (48,516) (55,984) 62,267 58.203 57.012 56,661 57,325

Economy and Transport

Transport connections from Niort

While Niort used to be a center of the leather and cloth industry with its industry-specific markets and trade fairs, the city has now become an important financial and insurance center. The automobile manufacturer Automobiles Barré had to stop production in 1930 due to the global economic crisis.

The service sector as a whole employs around 28,000 people in Niort. The most important employer in the city (and also in the Deux-Sèvres department) with 2,884 employees (as of 2009) is the municipal hospital in Niort. The regional consumer exhibition Foirexpo de Niort , which takes place every year at the end of April, attracted more than 100,000 visitors in 2012. Thanks to the good connection to the motorway network, the marshalling yard and the relative proximity to the port of La Rochelle, Niort has also developed into a logistics center, especially for the distribution of food and pharmaceutical products. Atlansèrve is the name of a 450 hectare industrial zone, which extends in the southeastern neighboring municipality of La Crèche and unites more than a hundred companies. The business district in the center of the city was transformed into a pedestrian zone between 2009 and 2012 .

The headquarters of the Mutuelle d'assurance des instituteurs de France (MAIF), an insurance company originally intended for teaching staff, is located in the Niort-Noron district . The Mutuelle d'assurance des artisans de France (MAAF), which was initially aimed at craftsmen, is active in the same line of business and has its headquarters in the Niort-Chauray district . Both groups, which are housed in large, modern buildings, are today open to anyone interested with a wide range of insurance benefits and each employ around 7,000 people worldwide.

Niort is on the Paris - Poitiers - Tours - La Rochelle railway , which is also served by TGV trains. The journey from Paris-Montparnasse station takes 2 hours and 10 minutes in the best case, and the train takes 35 minutes to get to La Rochelle.

Sports

The football club Chamois Niort played in the top French league in the 1987/88 season , a unique event for Niort. He plays his home games at the Stade René Gaillard stadium . The name chamois is reminiscent of the production of chamois leather, for which the city was once known and which was traditionally tanned from the skins of chamois (French: chamois ).

Attractions

Niort's cultural heritage currently includes 23 officially listed objects.

Donjon

Twin donjon

The Niort Castle has a twin donjon as a special feature . The two Romanesque towers are 16 meters apart and are connected by an intermediate building. The ensemble was the centerpiece of a large square reduit 700 meters in length. Originally the two towers were connected by a curtain wall.

King Henry II of England wanted to secure the French province with this “impregnable fortress”, which his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine had brought into the marriage as a dowry in 1152. The fortification actually represented an entire medieval town with houses, gardens and parade ground. The collegiate monastery of Saint-Gaudens with the associated church was also part of it, but was destroyed during the Huguenot Wars . The castle complex later served as a prison and then as a museum.

The two towers have an almost square floor plan. The south tower is 28 meters high, the north tower 23 meters. Round towers reinforce the four corners of each donjon and a massive buttress strengthens the connecting walls. The donjons are a typical example of the military architecture of the time: thick walls, buttresses and few and narrow openings. Battlements and machicolations on the northeast and southwest sides allowed an active defense of the castle. The north tower partially collapsed in 1749, but was rebuilt in 1750. The building, which now houses temporary exhibitions, has been a French cultural monument since 1840. The accessible platforms offer a beautiful view of Niort and the Sèvre.

Le Pilori

Le Pilori

Le pilori ('the pillory') is the name of the former town hall designed by the architect Mathurin Berthomé. The typical Renaissance building from the 16th century was erected on the spot where the pillory stood in the Middle Ages. The upper part of the belfry was added in the 17th century. The three-storey building has a trapezoidal floor plan. In terms of exterior decoration, the crowning of the top window is particularly noteworthy. The stone carving of the ornamental gable depicts, among other things, several candelabra. The building was restored in 1885, with Charles Lameire painting the interior of the hall on the first floor. In this room you can also see a painted fireplace , which is decorated with plant ornaments with the coats of arms of the mayors and councilors of the Ancien Régime .

The building has been a French cultural monument since 1879. Having recently housed a bookstore, it now belongs to the city and is used temporarily for art exhibitions.

Notre-Dame church

Notre-Dame church

The Notre-Dame church, built on the site of a Romanesque church in the Flamboyant style , dates back to the 14th century, but most of the components date from the 15th and 16th centuries. The central nave is flanked by two aisles with open chapels. The ensemble is covered with an eight-part ribbed vault. The church has a pointed steeple which, with its 75 meters height, is the highest in the Deux-Sèvres department. The main entrance on the north side has a remarkable portal from the 16th century, dedicated to the Virgin Mary , which shows the transition from the late Gothic to the Renaissance style. One of the architects was Mathurin Berthomé, who also designed the tower.

In 1771 the main altar was moved to the west and a new room layout was created. Additional windows (with the Jesse tree motif) at the location of the side portals provided more light inside. The carved oak pulpit and the cloister are in neo-Gothic style (1877). The interior also includes tapestries from Aubusson (18th century). The church has been a French cultural monument since 1908.

Saint-André church

Saint-André church

From the original Saint-André church, once an important Romanesque sacred building, only a few damaged outdoor sculptures, which are now kept in the museum, have been preserved. The building was rebuilt during the Gothic and Renaissance periods, but was badly damaged by the Huguenots in 1588. Restored, modified and expanded in 1685, it served as a feed store for horses during the Vendée uprising , and was extended towards the cavalry barracks. The church owes its current appearance to the local architect Segrétain, who built it a third time in neo-Gothic style between 1855 and 1863. Some art critics see the current building as a "thoroughly successful" parody of the Gothic architecture of the 13th century. In the interior of the apse , the remains of a chapel from the Renaissance can still be seen on the south side. The carved pulpit from the 17th and the Passion painting by Lattainville from the 18th century as well as a wooden crucifix from the same century are remarkable .

Market hall

Market hall

The market hall (Les halles) was built in 1869 by Durand, city architect of Niort. The glazed cast iron and steel construction is the third covered market in the history of the city. The first already existed in the Middle Ages and is said to have been nicknamed "the most beautiful crowd in the French kingdom". The current building construction is based on the Baltard Pavilion in Paris (demolished in 1977 and rebuilt in Nogent-sur-Marne ). The hall consists of a wide central nave, which is flanked by two aisles; later a gallery was added to the side aisles, each opening onto the Place du Donjon and the Rue Brisson . Each facade is decorated with three blind arcades , with the entrance gate in the middle arcade. Above these entrances there are portal crowns in the form of a cast iron sculpture, which show Mercurius (the Roman god of merchants) and Ceres (the Roman goddess of agriculture) in addition to fruit ornaments . The building ensemble has been a " Monument historique " ( cultural monument ) since 1987 .

The market is open from Tuesday to Sunday until 2 p.m. Additional market stalls are set up outside on Thursdays and Saturdays.

barracks

Quartier Du Guesclin

The construction of the barracks Du Guesclin (named after the military leader Bertrand du Guesclin ) began in 1734 on the former market square Place Saint-Gelais . Today the square that dominates the Quartier Du Guesclin is called Place Chanzy . The Vauban- style barracks were commissioned by Mayor Thibault de Bouteville. The building consists of a single, imposing three-storey wing with space for 720 soldiers. The horse stables were located on the ground floor. The barracks were successively enlarged in 1779, 1830 and 1894. In the 160 years in which it was in operation, the troop accommodation housed 43 cavalry regiments one after the other, including the well-known Hussar Regiment No. 7, which was founded in 1792 during the French Revolution and which remained part of everyday life in the city for a long time. Today the building, which has been a French cultural monument since 1994, is the seat of the General Council of the Deux-Sèvres department.

Other structures

Saint-Etienne-du-Port church
  • The Église Sainte-Pezenne church from the early 12th century is the oldest church in Niort. The choir is an archaic testimony to Romanesque architecture. The building has been a French cultural monument since 2003.
  • The neo-Gothic church Église Saint-Étienne-du-Port dates from the 19th century. The single-nave structure with ambulatory has been a French cultural monument since 2008.
  • The reformed church Le Temple protestant was originally the monastery church of the order of the Cordeliers . The Gothic building from the 13th century was badly damaged during the Huguenot Wars, but was restored under the reign of King Henry IV . In 1800 the church was sold to the city of Niort, which, after being restored again, gave it to the evangelical community in 1805. The paneled pulpit inside the single-nave building is remarkable .
  • The stately residence Hôtel de la Roulière at 63, Rue Saint-Gelais was built in 1830 by the architect Pierre-Théophile Segretain for the then mayor Jean-Victor Chebrou de la Roulière. The house has been a French cultural monument since 1990.
  • The Maison de la Vierge (“House of the Virgin Mary”) at “55, rue Saint-Gelais” is a half-timbered building from the 15th century that belonged to an old, well-known local family. The house got the name because of a large, eye-catching Madonna statue that is housed in a wall niche in the corner of the facade. The house, which is currently in a very bad structural condition, has been a French cultural monument since 2001.

Places

The wide Place de la Brêche was originally the royal statuette of Niort's exhibition center. In modern times a breach was made in the fortress walls to gain more space, which explains its name. Today the square offers space for a public sculpture garden, which can be reached via a monumental staircase, plus over 1,000 parking spaces. The square, which is now lined with many restaurants and bars, was closed to through traffic and designed in terraces. In 2012 the parking lot was moved underground.

Local specialities

The cultivation and further breeding of angelica has a long tradition in the area around Niort because of its aromatic and healing properties. The production of a liqueur based on angelica, called Angélique , began. Nuns in the 18th century are said to have had the first idea of ​​using the liqueur as a baking ingredient. Today you can find this in many confectionery products that are sold in Niort.

Twin cities

Personalities

Born in Niort

Athlete:

Associated with Niort

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herrmann children, Werner Hilgemann: dtv-Atlas for world history . 23rd edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-423-03001-1 , pp. 116/117.
  2. ↑ Entry no. PA00101283 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ↑ Entry no. PA00101287 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  4. ↑ Entry no. PA00101284 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  5. ↑ Entry no. PA00101285 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  6. ↑ Entry no. PA00132782 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  7. ↑ Entry no. PA79000024 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  8. ↑ Entry no. PA79000035 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  9. ↑ Entry no. PA00101412 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  10. ↑ Entry no. PA79000019 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Web links

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