Villandry

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Villandry
Coat of arms of Villandry
Villandry (France)
Villandry
region Center-Val de Loire
Department Indre-et-Loire
Arrondissement Tours
Canton Ballan-Miré
Community association Tours Métropole Val de Loire
Coordinates 47 ° 20 '  N , 0 ° 31'  E Coordinates: 47 ° 20 '  N , 0 ° 31'  E
height 38-97 m
surface 17.8 km 2
Residents 1,114 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 63 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 37510
INSEE code 37272
Website http://www.villandry.fr/

Villandry - View over the castle gardens to the village and the Saint-Étienne church

Villandry is an approximately 1114 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) scoring French community in the region Center-Val de Loire in the department of Indre-et-Loire .

Toponym

The place name is understood as a combination of two words ( villa and Andric ) - it would mean something like "Andric's estate".

location

Villandry is at an altitude of about 50 meters above sea level. d. M. on the south bank of the river Cher about 17 kilometers (driving distance) southwest of Tours .

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2012
Residents 588 610 679 742 776 920 1,111 1,072

In the 19th century the community, which also includes several hamlets and farmhouses, consistently had between 800 and 1030 inhabitants. As a result of the phylloxera crisis and the mechanization of agriculture , the number of inhabitants fell in the first half of the 20th century to a low of 588 in 1962. The comparatively cheap land prices and rents compared to the big city of Tours as well as tourism have led to a constant increase in the population since then.

economy

For centuries the small town was part of a largely self-sufficient agriculture. The construction of the castle led to the emergence of small craft businesses. Since the 1960s, cultural and wine tourism have played an important role in the municipality's economic life.

history

The history of the place goes back to Gallo-Roman times and maybe even further back. The Peace of Colombiers was concluded in the medieval castle in 1189 , during which the English King Henry II had to admit defeat to the French King Philip Augustus . The construction of today's castle by Jean le Breton , Finance Minister Francis I , began in 1532 with the demolition of the old castle.

Attractions

Villandry Castle

Others

Eastern part of the Saint-Étienne church with transept , crossing tower and three apses
  • The parish church of the place ( Église Saint-Étienne ) is a single-nave building. The apse of a previous church from the 11th century was demolished at the end of the 12th century and the imposing new transept with its crossing tower and the three apses , to which the church owes its late Romanesque appearance, was built. The nave was also to be demolished; however, it was preserved, probably due to a lack of funds. In 1505 it was annexed to the Saint-Cosme priory to the west of the city of Tours; Pierre de Ronsard spent the last 20 years of his life there. The church has been classified as a monument historique since 1926 .
  • The Manoir de Foncher manor dates back to the 16th century, but was restored and supplemented in the 19th century. The main building consists of a residential wing ( corps de logis ) with two lateral round towers. The privately owned building complex is located on the north bank of the Cher and is difficult to reach from Villandry due to the lack of bridges. It has also been recognized as a Monument historique since 1962 .
  • Two kilometers southwest of the village is a 3.65 meter high stone ( Pierre Aux Joncs ) surrounded by trees , which is regarded as a menhir or as part of a large stone grave ( dolmen ), since fragments of another stone were in its vicinity in the 19th century were found, but have since disappeared. Since the stone shows hardly any traces of workmanship, it is uncertain whether it is at all a man-made monument from the time of megalithic culture.

literature

  • Le Patrimoine des Communes d'Indre-et-Loire. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84234-115-5 , pp. 189-193.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Église Saint-Étienne, Villandry in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ↑ Manoir de Foncher, Villandry in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)