Pignans

Pignans
region	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Department	Var
Arrondissement	Brignoles
Canton	Le Luc
Community association	Cœur du Var
Coordinates	43 ° 18 ' N , 6 ° 14' E Coordinates: 43 ° 18 ' N , 6 ° 14' E
height	146-766 m
surface	34.87 km 2
Residents	4,201 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	120 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	83790
INSEE code	83092
Website	http://www.pignans.fr/

Pignans is a French municipality with 4201 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the Var department in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur . It is located in the canton of Le Luc in the Arrondissement of Brignoles .

geography

Notre Dame des Anges and La Sauvette , the two highest points of the Massif des Maures located close together, tower over the municipality of Pignans in the south. From here, the height profile of the community drops from 766 m steeply in the direction of a narrow plain at almost 150 m above sea level, from which a limestone hilly landscape rises to around 200 to 300 m to the north.

The ridges are heavily wooded, in the plane growing wine , olives and chestnuts .

The source of the small river Réal-Martin , which flows westwards towards Puget-Ville , is located in the municipality. In addition to the Saint-Pierre and Rimauret streams , numerous seasonal watercourses flow through the plain . The mountain road in the direction of Notre Dame des Anges grants an exceptional view of the valley.

history

The place, mentioned in 1039 as Pignanum , goes back to the Roman settlement called Civitas Pignacensis on the Via Aurelia , of which some remains from Gallo-Roman times have been preserved. In the Middle Ages it was under the rule of the Counts of Marseille, later that of the Collegiate Chapter and finally that of a Jansenist Ursuline convent.

In the 13th century the collegiate monastery , to which numerous priories were subordinate, achieved a remarkable importance. The monastery looked like a castle. The houses of the community were grouped close together around the monastery walls guarded by 13 towers. In 1590 the monastery was destroyed by fire.

Napoléon Bonaparte and Jean Lannes spent one night at the Hotel Cloche d'Or in Pignans on their Italian campaign .

population

Since the early 1980s, Pignans has seen a very strong population growth, which is due to a strong influx, which more than compensates for the below-average birth rate. Almost half of the almost 4,000 inhabitants today have moved here in the last 25 years.

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2015
Residents	1,520	1,792	1,674	1,789	2,338	2,598	3,025	3,896

Attractions

In addition to the parish church from the 17th century, which was built on the site of the former collegiate church from the 11th century, numerous chapels can be visited in Pignans. Above all, the Notre Dame des Anges chapel on the summit of the same name should be mentioned, to which a forest path lined with small oratorios leads. Other chapels in the parish are Saint-Pierre from the 15th century, Saint-André from the 13th century and the Saint-Barthélemy chapel .

Personalities

Honoré-Nicolas-Marie Duveryrier , French lawyer, politician and playwright, born: December 6, 1753
The French politician Hubert Falco , senator of the department of Var, mayor of Toulon and president of the municipal association Métropole Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée was born in Pignans.