Melle, Deux-Sèvres

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Saint Pierre, one of the Roman Triad
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Saint Savinien, another of the Roman Triad

Melle is a French town and commune of about 4,000 people located between Poitiers and Niort in the Deux-Sèvres département. It is today best known as the home town of Ségolène Royal, the Socialist candidate for the Presidency of the Republic.

[edit] History

The town was founded in the reign of Charlemagne as a mining centre and was, for a time the home of the French mint. The mines which supplied the mint continued to function off and on before being forgotten altogether in the 1700s, not to be discovered again until the 1900s.The site of the mint can still be visted today.

In the Middle Ages, Melle flourished as a town as we can see from its surviving medieval houses and the three churches, built in the Romanesque style during the 11th and 12th centuries.

Today, Melle is a vibrant small town. It is the major hub of business for the nearby towns of Saint Leger, Chef-Boutonne, and Celles-sur-Belles and this is demonstrated by its large business community and by the fact that it is home to the lycée (high school) for the region. Melle and the surrounding countryside is known for its own particular type of goat's cheese, 'chabichou'.

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