Le Puy-Notre-Dame

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Le Puy-Notre-Dame
Le Puy-Notre-Dame
Coordinates: 47°07′34″N 0°14′02″W / 47.1261°N 0.2339°W / 47.1261; -0.2339Coordinates: 47°07′34″N 0°14′02″W / 47.1261°N 0.2339°W / 47.1261; -0.2339
Country France
Region Pays de la Loire
Department Maine-et-Loire
Arrondissement Saumur
Canton Montreuil-Bellay
Intercommunality Saumur Loire Développement
Government
 • Mayor Jean-Luc Claeys
Area
 • Land1 15.87 km2 (6.13 sq mi)
Population (1999)
 • Population2 1,236
 • Population2 Density 78/km2 (200/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 49253 / 49260
Elevation 32–106 m (105–348 ft)
(avg. 103 m or 338 ft)

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.

Le Puy-Notre-Dame or Le Puy is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.

The village is built on the hill of Puy.

Its inhabitants are known as Puechens.

History

Protohistoric traces have been found.

Le Puy (Podio beatae Mariae in the 7th century had become known as Puy-la-Montagne by 1793 and the hill of Puy as Mary's Mountain. William 9th, Duke of Aquitaine is reputed to have brought back a waistband of the Virgin Mary from the Crusades and deposited it in the church. His granddaughter Eleanor of Aquitaine founded a collegial church to honour the relic which, according to legend, facilitated pregnancies and male offspring. Louis XI founded a chapter about 1480 and this became a site of pilgrimage the Sunday after 8 September, the Nativity. The relic can still be viewed here.

The town became a stop on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (17th century houses used by the pilgims still exist).

Its location between the territories of the Counts of Anjou and Aquitaine lent it strategic importance and traces of an encircling town wall remain.

Places

  • Subterranean refuges exist under the town and Sanziers;
  • Presshouse at the Château du Lys in Sanziers;
  • Subterranean dovecote at La Hupponnière;
  • Cavier mill in ruins;
  • Ancient Franciscan convent chapel (barn).

Agriculture

Local agricultural production is mixed with vineyards (15 km²), orchards and market gardening taking place alongside pasture and woodlands. Beekeeping also takes place. The Cave Saint-Maur in Sanziers is well worth a visit for its mushroom production. Local A.O.C wines are Anjou, Saumur, and sparkling Saumur.

Administration

List of successive mayors
Date of election Identity Capacity
2008 Jean-luc Clayes

Miscellaneous

Puy derives from the Provençal word "Puech", meaning an isolated hill.

See also

External links (in French, unless otherwise indicated)

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