Ambérac

Ambérac
Ambérac
Administration
Country France
Region Poitou-Charentes
Department Charente
Arrondissement Angoulême
Canton Saint-Amant-de-Boixe
Intercommunality Boixe
Mayor Alain Combaud
(2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 46–101 m (151–331 ft)
(avg. 78 m/256 ft)
Land area1 12.10 km2 (4.67 sq mi)
Population2 316  (2008)
 - Density 26 /km2 (67 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 16008/ 16140
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ambérac is a commune in the Charente département, region of Poitou-Charentes region in southwestern France. An individual from Ambérac is known as Ambéracois.

Contents

Geography

Ambérac is in the northwest part of the Charente department, at the confluence of the rivers Aume and Charente. It is 24 kilometers to the north of Angoulême, six kilometers southwest of the commune of Aigre, and eight kilometers northwest of Saint-Amant-de-Boixe. The village sits on the bank of the Charente, lying upstream of Angoulême and downstream of Mansle.

Neighboring Towns

Fouqueure Villognon
Marcillac-Lanville
   Ambérac    
La Chapelle Coulonges

Transporation

Roads

The municipality is served by several routes national, among which are the D.69, which connects the town to Mansle and Marcillac-Lanville; the D.88, linking the town to Aigre and Xambes; and the D.737, providing a route to Angoulême and Chef-Boutonne.

Railroads

The nearest train station is located five kilometers away in the town of Luxé. Destinations served include Angoulême, Poitiers, and Bourdeaux, and service is provided by Transport express régional.

History

The town was inhabited as least as early as Roman times, as attested to by artifacts found in and round the town, such as a bronze likeness of Mercury wearing a winged petasos, stone slabs engraved with oculi, a square well, and coins from the eras of Augustus, Agrippa, Marcus Aurelius, and Maximin. Other lesser artifacts attesting to the presence of settlers from these periods have also been discovered, including earthenware, iron implements, and fragments of a mosaic. In a nearby location, known as 'La Tour-des-Fades, the remains of an ancient building were also discovered, the details of which are listed in La Statistique Monumentale de la Charente, a document published in 1844 outlining the ancient ruins of Charente.

Ambérac was founded near the ancient city of Oliba, and was a fiefdom of the families of La Rochefoucauld and Marcillac.

The town is home to the parish church of St. Étienne, which dates back to the 12th century. It has four remarkable bas-reliefs, reflecting the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, and the Magi. Prior to the French Revolution, the parish of St. Étienne was home to one of the thirteen archpriests of Angoumois.

Toponymy

In the past, the town of Ambérac was known variously as "Ambéraco" from the years AD 1080 to 1117 and later as "Ambariaco" from 1274 to 1297. In 1793, it was spelled by the canton of Lanville Marcillac as "Émberac", and later in 1801, when the village became a part of the canton of Saint-Amand-de-Boixe, as "Ambeirac", before finally coming to be spelled as it is in modern convention.

Administration

List of Mayors of Ambérac

Term in Office Name Party Profession
2001 – present Alain Combaud Independent Public Works Technician

(This table is incomplete)

Demographics

Population

Year Population
1793 585
1800 709
1806 705
1821 780
1831 832
1841 791
1846 759
1851 729
1856 618
1861 613
1866 618
1872 619
1876 647
1881 576
1886 537
1891 522
1896 506
1901 510
1906 490
1911 441
1921 404
1926 399
1931 398
1936 419
1946 386
1954 334
1962 313
1968 317
1975 330
1982 361
1990 338
1990 336
2006 316
2007 314
2008 316


The labor force of Ambérac consists of 145 people. Of those, 11 are unemployed, giving an unemployment rate of 7.6%. The average income of the citizens is € 11,750/year.

See also

References