Épenède

Épenède

Épenède
Administration
Country France
Region Poitou-Charentes
Department Charente
Arrondissement Confolens
Canton Confolens-Nord
Intercommunality Confolentais
Mayor Roland Lhomme
(2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation 144–194 m (472–636 ft)
(avg. 192 m/630 ft)
Land area1 15.62 km2 (6.03 sq mi)
Population2 211  (2008)
 - Density 14 /km2 (36 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 16128/ 16490
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.

Épenède is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France.

Épenède, of which the Latin spina would mean thorn shrub, is bordered to the north by the department of Vienne and to the southwest by the valley of the River Transon. The village is situated on the dividing line of the waters of the Charente and the Vienne. The parish of Épenède was a dependant of the vast domains of the Benedictine abbey at nearby Charroux and in the diocese of Poitiers.

Contents

Population

Historical population of Épenède
Year 1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1841 1846 1851 1856 1861
Population 584 510 460 620 526 507 543 586 541 504
Year 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896 1901 1906 1911
Population 516 473 483 512 535 554 500 468 465 487
Year 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954 1962 1968 1975 1982
Population 447 419 427 425 355 350 311 323 269 256
Year 1990 1999 2008
Population 242 208 211

Sights

The Holy Church of St. Hilaire is 12th century and is of Limousin style (except the steeple bell tower which is more recent). This structure was burned at the time of the Wars of Religion. The capitals of the four spans of the nave are ancient, and one of them represents a monster holding in its claws a human head that it is about to devour. Many water sources or fountains "miraculous" sprinkle the commune.

See also

References