Saint-Nectaire (Puy-de-Dôme)

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Saint-Nectaire
Coat of arms of Saint-Nectaire
Saint-Nectaire (France)
Saint-Nectaire
region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department Puy-de-Dôme
Arrondissement Issoire
Canton Le Sancy
Community association Massif du Sancy
Coordinates 45 ° 35 ′  N , 3 ° 0 ′  E Coordinates: 45 ° 35 ′  N , 3 ° 0 ′  E
height 609–1,011 m
surface 33.26 km 2
Residents 741 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 22 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 63710
INSEE code

Entrance

Saint-Nectaire is a French municipality with 741 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Puy-de-Dôme in the region Auvergne Rhône-Alpes . It is known nationwide for three things:

geography

Saint-Nectaire is located in the eastern part of the Monts Dore massif , which in turn is part of the Massif Central . The city is divided into two parts, Saint-Nectaire-le-Haut with the Romanesque church on the southern slope of the valley and Saint-Nectaire-le-Bas with the thermal springs, down in the valley.

history

The menhir Croix de Saint-Roch

Dolmens and menhirs

Saint-Nectaire still has a lot of evidence of the Neolithic era, for example five dolmens and two menhirs can be seen in the vicinity of the village. Immediately on Mont Cornadore , not far from the later Christian church, there is a large dolmen. Here, too, the not so rare close proximity between the early cult sites and a Christian church (such as the cathedral of Le Mans or in Langenstein ) is striking .

Antiquity and Migration Period

Neolithic stone setting later often became religious centers of Celtic peoples , especially those of this extraordinary size. One can only guess that for this dolmen. The area of ​​the Basse Auvergne was in any case settled by the Gallic tribe of the Arverner , whose name can be found in the region . After Caesar had defeated the Gauls under Vercingetorix in Alesia ( Burgundy ) in 52 BC , the Romans also occupied the land of the averna civitas (from the 1st to the 3rd century), which became a Gallic province . One speaks of the Gallo-Roman era, for which the use of the thermal springs in the region has been proven.

At the time of the Great Migration (4th to 6th centuries), West Goths , Franks , Saracens and Vikings repeatedly attacked the former Gallo-Roman centers. At that time there was still no significant settlement in the area that would later become Saint-Nectaire that the migrating peoples could have been interested in.

Attractions

The Romanesque former priory church of Saint-Nectaire

Saint-Nectaire priory church

The former priory church of Saint-Nectaire is built in the variant of the Romanesque church style typical of the Auvergne. It is one of the five main Romanesque churches in the Puy-de-Dôme department , together with the Notre-Dame du Port collegiate church in Clermont-Ferrand , the Notre-Dame basilica in Orcival , the Saint-Austremoine monastery church in Issoire and the church of Saint- Saturnin . What is particularly striking and unique in the Romanesque churches of the Auvergne is the heightening of the transept, which is referred to as a massif barlong or Auvergne cross bar .

Personalities

literature

  • Ulrich Rosenbaum: Auvergne and Massif Central. Voyages of discovery from Clermont-Ferrand over the volcanoes and gorges of the Massif Central to the Cevennes National Park (= DuMont documents. DuMont art travel guide. ). 7th edition. DuMont, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7701-1111-7 .
  • Thorsten Droste: Romanesque Art in France. A travel companion to all the important Romanesque churches and monasteries (= DuMont documents. DuMont art travel guide. ). 2nd Edition. DuMont, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-7701-2009-4 .

Web links

Commons : Saint-Nectaire  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Philippe Gloaguen, et al .: Le Routard - Le guide de la visite d'entreprise . No. 79/0425/0 . Hachette Livre, Vanves 2016, ISBN 978-2-01-323703-1 , pp. 236 f .
  2. Fontaines Pétrifiantes de Saint-Nectaire. Retrieved November 14, 2019 (French).
  3. ^ Ulrich Rosenbaum: Auvergne and Massif Central. Voyages of discovery from Clermont-Ferrand over the volcanoes and gorges of the Massif Central to the Cevennes National Park (= DuMont documents. DuMont art travel guide ). 4th edition. DuMont Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-7701-1111-7 , p. 89.