Saintes

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Saintes
Coat of arms of Saintes
Saintes (France)
Saintes
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement Saintes
Canton Saintes
Community association Saintes
Coordinates 45 ° 45 ′  N , 0 ° 38 ′  W Coordinates: 45 ° 45 ′  N , 0 ° 38 ′  W
height 2-81 m
surface 45.55 km 2
Residents 25,470 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 559 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 17100
INSEE code 17415
Website www.ville-saintes.fr

Panorama of Saintes on the Charente

Saintes is a French city with 25,470 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Charente-Maritime department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region . Saintes is the capital of the old cultural landscape of the Saintonge , which is best known for its wines and the large number of impressive Romanesque church buildings .

location

Saintes extends on both banks of the Charente river about 120 kilometers (driving distance) north of Bordeaux and about 74 kilometers southeast of La Rochelle ; the city of Cognac, also on the Charente, is located about 28 kilometers south-east.

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2017
Residents 26,507 26,891 25,471 25,874 25,595 26,531 25,470

In the 19th century the population of the community rose from around 10,000 to over 20,000 at times. The population has been more or less stable for years, as many people prefer to live in one of the surrounding communities.

Economy and Transport

The economy includes businesses that are closely linked to agriculture in the area, as well as various small and medium-sized commercial and industrial companies. Around 3,000 people are employed in the Parc Atlantique commercial zone . Saintes can be reached from the A10 autoroute via exit 35. It is also well connected to the rail network of the French SNCF . There are several bus routes in the city.

history

The city was founded around 20 BC. Founded by the Romans on the banks of the Charente river as Mediolanum Santonum . In Roman times it was on one of the oldest Roman roads in Gaul , one of the four so-called Agrippa roads today ; even then the city had about 15,000 inhabitants. Saintes, whose name is derived from the Gaulish people of the pre-Roman times, the Santons , was the capital of the then province of Saintonge .

From 850 to 865, the Loire-Normans had a base in Saintes.

In the Middle Ages, one of the French Way of St. James ( Via Turonensis ) ending in Santiago de Compostela led from Tours to Roncesvalles and in the section Aulnay - Saint-Jean-d'Angély via Saintes to Pons , Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge and Mirambeau . In 1271 Saintes was divided into two parts; the western bank of the Charente belonged to the sphere of influence of the English king, the right to France. In 1360 the English took over the city completely and in 1404 it became completely French again. In the 16th century Saintes was badly affected by the Huguenot Wars ; At that time, many Protestants lived in the region (see also Edict of Nantes ).

Culture and sights

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Saintes

Roman times

The main attractions are the Roman ruins, e.g. B. the amphitheater and the Germanicus arch on the right bank of the Charente from 19 AD; The Musée Archéologique , which deals with the early history and the Roman finds of the area, provides a good overview of the beginnings of the city's history .

Amphitheater of Saintes
Honorary Arch of Germanicus
Thermal baths

Medieval churches

The former Saint-Pierre cathedral was built on Roman foundations, but nothing has survived from the Merovingian and Carolingian construction phases. Romanesque components from the middle of the 12th century can be seen in the domed transepts. Today the church is mostly in its late Gothic form. In 1568 the Huguenots set fire to the cathedral. Since the abolition of the diocese of Saintes , 'St. Pierre 'a co- cathedral of the La Rochelle-Saintes diocese . The west portal shows rich figurative decorations from the late Gothic period; angels, saints and figures from the Old and New Testaments are lined up in its archivolts ; the garment figures are missing today.

The significant remains of the large pilgrim church of Saint-Eutrope (first consecrated in 1096, but also later construction phases), whose ship was destroyed in the Revolution, has been listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site " Camino de Santiago in France" since 1998 . In the crypt and choir there are significant sculptural capitals from the 11th and 12th centuries.

To the east of the old town, across the Charente, is the Abbaye aux Dames , a former nunnery, with the important abbey church of Sainte-Marie-des-Dames, which with its famous facade sculpture is a gem of the Romanesque architecture of the Saintonge.

Church Abbaye aux Dames
Church Saint-Eutrope
Saint Pierre Cathedral

Modern times

Several buildings from modern times are also worth mentioning, e.g. B. the neoclassical church of Saint-Vivien from the 1840s, dedicated to St. Bibianus , one of the city's first bishops , or the Notre-Dame de Recouvrance church . The Protestant Temple Church , one of the largest in France, is also worth mentioning in this context.

Saint Vivien Church
Church Notre-Dame-de-Recouvrance
Protestant Church Temple

War cemeteries in the area

A few kilometers southwest of Saintes is the French war cemetery Rétaud with graves of the French soldiers who died in the Second World War during the liberation of Royan and the Île d'Oléron in France.

On the national road 137, eight kilometers south of Saintes in Berneuil (Charente-Maritime), the German war cemetery of Berneuil is located with the graves of the German soldiers who died in southwest France in the Second World War .

Town twinning

Saintes has twinned cities with the following six cities:

Personalities

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Volume 2. Flohic Editions, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 1004-1036.

Web links

Commons : Saintes (Charente-Maritime)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
  2. ^ Nos comités de jumelage. In: ville-saintes.fr, accessed on September 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ Vladimir: Sister Cities