Tesson

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Tesson
Tesson (France)
Tesson
region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement Saintes
Canton Thénac
Community association Gémozac et la Saintonge Viticole
Coordinates 45 ° 38 ′  N , 0 ° 39 ′  W Coordinates: 45 ° 38 ′  N , 0 ° 39 ′  W
height 34-58 m
surface 12.13 km 2
Residents 1,075 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 89 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 17460
INSEE code 17441

Tesson - town view

Tesson is a commune with 1,075 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Charente-Maritime in the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine .

location

Tesson is located in the old cultural landscape of the Saintonge about 14 kilometers (driving distance) south of Saintes and about 13 kilometers northwest of Pons . The main town of the community association, Gémozac , is just under eight kilometers south.

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2016
Residents 557 546 705 758 812 966 1045

In the first half of the 19th century the number of inhabitants was consistently over 600; after that, the phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture caused a steady decline. Due to the relative proximity to the cities of Saintes and Pons and the comparatively low rental and property prices, the population of Tesson has increased slightly again in recent years.

economy

Agriculture and viticulture have determined the economic life of the place for centuries, which also functioned as a trade, craft and service center for the - meanwhile largely disappeared - hamlets and farmsteads in the surrounding area. The light limestone from Tesson was very popular and so there were several quarries in the vicinity of the place until 1960. The soils of the municipality belong to the cultivation area of ​​the Fins Bois of the Cognac wine-growing region , but cereals (wheat, maize) are also grown on many arable land. Since the 1980s, tourism (rental of holiday apartments) has been added as a source of income.

history

As the discovery of a chariot grave shows, the area was already settled in pre-Roman times. In the Middle Ages, the place was on a branch line of the Jacobsweg , which is also indicated by two figures on the west facade of the church, who are interpreted as pilgrims and robbers . The place was equipped with a Romanesque church in the 12th century ; whether this was affected in the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) is not known. In the 18th century the place experienced a heyday, since Étienne Guinot, the landlord ( seigneur ) of Tesson and in 1729 of Louis XV. the Marquis of Monconseil collected himself had built here a new castle, which in magnificence with the locks of the North (eg. Vaux-le-Vicomte ) competed - but it was during the French Revolution completely destroyed.

Attractions

Church Saint-Grégoire

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Tesson

  • The parish church of Saint-Grégoire is a 12th century building with a largely unadorned, but architecturally sophisticated archivolt portal on the west facade, which is framed on both sides by a blind arch. The corners of the lower facade level are reinforced by service bundles . The window in the middle area of ​​the facade is framed on the sides by double columns arranged in pairs, which loosen up the otherwise bare wall surface. A completely unadorned gable field, into which only the arch of the window of the middle level protrudes, closes the facade off at the top. In the crossing area, the church is extended by a transept each to the north and south. The neo-Gothic tower on the north side is an ingredient of the late 19th century. The single nave interior of the church is vaulted by a pointed barrel; the crossing, on the other hand, is underlain by a ribbed vault , which rests on mighty bundle pillars with late Romanesque leaf capitals. The three apses each end with domes at the top . Church construction has been recognized as a monument historique since 1910 .
  • In the center of the village there is a hard-to-date Hosanna cross with a four-part column shaft composed of stone drums.
  • The old hospital from 1777 was intended as a poor care home . The costs for the construction and the equipment (beds, furniture, linen, etc.) added up to the proud sum of 17,000 livres.
  • Immediately next to it is one of the most peculiar market halls in France. It is not designed as a hall that is open on all sides, but only as a corridor that is open on one side. The building, erected in 1773, was used once a month until 1960.

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Charente-Maritime. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-129-5 , pp. 266-268.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Grégoire, Tesson in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)