Rioux (Charente-Maritime)

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Rioux
Rioux coat of arms
Rioux (France)
Rioux
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement Saintes
Canton Thénac
Community association Gémozac et la Saintonge Viticole
Coordinates 45 ° 38 ′  N , 0 ° 43 ′  W Coordinates: 45 ° 38 ′  N , 0 ° 43 ′  W
height 24-56 m
surface 18.98 km 2
Residents 960 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 51 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 17460
INSEE code 17298
Website Rioux

Rioux - Notre-Dame Church

Rioux is a place and a southern French community with 960 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the Charente-Maritime in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

The place is located in the Saintonge about 15 kilometers (driving distance) southwest of Saintes or about 34 kilometers east of the Gironde estuary at Royan . The neighboring community of Rétaud with the very similar church of Saint-Trojan is only about five kilometers north.

Population development

year 1800 1851 1901 1954 1999 2013
Residents 1,098 1,224 739 636 771 937

The population decline at the end of the 19th and in the first half of the 20th century is mainly due to the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the increasing mechanization of agriculture .

economy

For the surrounding rural communities, Rioux was important as a central market and handicraft location as early as the Middle Ages . Agriculture and viticulture are still an integral part of the town's economic life today. Since the 1980s, tourism has been added as a source of income in the form of renting holiday apartments ( gîtes ).

history

Almost nothing is known or published about the history of Rioux. In any case, the former priory of Notre-Dame as the core for the emergence and development of the village played an important role.

Attractions

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Rioux (Charente-Maritime)

Notre-Dame church

Others

Market hall
Château de Rioux
  • A Hosianna cross ( Croix Hosannière ) from 1188 may have been in the cemetery; However, this was moved in the 17th or 18th century and so the cross stands freely on the southern edge of the place. The shaft of the monument, made up of four larger and four smaller columns, rises above a mighty pedestal consisting of four concentric stone rings with decreasing diameter (approx. 2.10 m to 1.60 m) and a cylindrical base (0.60 m diameter) which in a certain way reminds of the death lantern ( lanterne des morts ) in Fenioux . There is a paw cross at the top . According to local tradition, the congregation gathered here on Palm Sunday to shout or sing "Hosanna" with branches in their hands.
  • The market hall, resting on 14 wooden pillars, dates from the end of the Middle Ages (15th century) but was thoroughly renovated in the 19th century. It served the place not only on market days, but also at festivals and other gatherings as a central and, above all, weatherproof place.
outside
  • The Château de Rioux is located about two kilometers north of the village ( 45 ° 38 ′ 58 ″  N , 0 ° 42 ′ 29 ″  W ). A medieval castle may have stood on the site, but it was rebuilt into a rather handsome manor in the 15th century and in the early 17th and 18th centuries. The two round towers are striking, one of which has a conical pointed roof, while the other ends in a platform with a surrounding parapet. The country castle was recognized as a monument historique in 1965 ; however, it is privately owned.

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 257-259.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rioux - Viticulture
  2. ↑ Château de Rioux in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)