Libourne

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Coordinates: 44°55′26″N 0°14′30″W / 44.923974, -0.241699

Administration
Commune of Libourne
Location

Country	France
Region	Aquitaine
Department	Gironde (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Libourne
Canton	Libourne
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes du Libournais
Mayor	Gilbert Mitterrand (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	2 m–28m (avg. 15 m)
Land area^¹	20.63 km²
Population^² (1999)	21,761
- Density	1,054.8/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	33243/ 33500
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Libourne, the wine-making capital of northern Gironde, near Saint Emilion and Pomerol, is a French commune in the Aquitaine region. Its population in 2007 was 23,000 inhabitants.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Sights
4 External links

[edit] Geography

It is located at the confluence of the Isle and Dordogne rivers.

[edit] History

In 1270, Leybornia was founded as a bastide by Roger de Leybourne (of Kent), an English seneschal of Gascony, under the authority of King Edward I of England. It suffered considerably in the struggles of the French and English for the possession of Gironde in the 14th century, and joined France in the 15th century.

[edit] Sights

The Gothic church, restored in the 19th century, has a stone spire 232 ft high. On the quay there is a machicolated clock-tower which is a survival of the defensive walls of the 14th century; and the town-house, containing a small museum and a library, is a quaint relic of the 16th century. It is located by the main square, the Place Abel Surchamp, which hosts every week end one of the largest fresh food market in the region. There is a statue of Élie, duc Decazes, who was born in the neighborhood.