Vilhonneur

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Vilhonneur
Vilhonneur
Coordinates: 45°40′56″N 0°25′15″E / 45.6822°N 0.4208°E / 45.6822; 0.4208Coordinates: 45°40′56″N 0°25′15″E / 45.6822°N 0.4208°E / 45.6822; 0.4208
Country France
Region Poitou-Charentes
Department Charente
Arrondissement Angoulême
Canton La Rochefoucauld
Intercommunality Val de Tardoire
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Vivian Varneau
Area
 • Land1 9.36 km2 (3.61 sq mi)
Population (2008)
 • Population2 335
 • Population2 Density 36/km2 (93/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 16406 / 16220
Elevation 87–137 m (285–449 ft)
(avg. 90 m or 300 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.

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

History

Vilhonneur was located on the Angoulême-Limoges Roman road, which was also known as the "English Road" (chemin des Anglais) .

The Rochebertier tower is mentioned in a confession to Philip the Bold in 1276. A medieval castle, of which exist only traces of the foundations, is located on a hillock. The present castle was built by the Chambes (aka Jambes) family in the late sixteenth century.

Population

Historical population
Year Pop.  ±%  
1793 340—    
1800 365+7.4%
1806 383+4.9%
1821 436+13.8%
1831 407−6.7%
1841 382−6.1%
1846 426+11.5%
1851 431+1.2%
1856 443+2.8%
1861 430−2.9%
1866 461+7.2%
1872 432−6.3%
1876 438+1.4%
1881 450+2.7%
1886 496+10.2%
1891 488−1.6%
1896 495+1.4%
1901 420−15.2%
1906 422+0.5%
1911 434+2.8%
1921 363−16.4%
1926 364+0.3%
1931 346−4.9%
1936 339−2.0%
1946 312−8.0%
1954 293−6.1%
1962 294+0.3%
1968 286−2.7%
1975 286+0.0%
1982 319+11.5%
1990 318−0.3%
1999 276−13.2%
2008 335+21.4%

Sights

The town has two prehistoric caves of an exceptional nature.

The Placard cave, at Rochebertier, was discovered in 1853 and has been dated to the Magdalenian and Solutrean periods. New paintings were discovered in 1990, identical to those in the Pech Merle cave at Lot.

The "Face" cave (grotte du Visage) was discovered in November 2005 during a caving expedition. It contains engravings as well as human and animal bones dating from the Upper Paleolithic period (around 25 000 years BCE).

At the site of the old Roman ford there is still the 50 cm-wide stone bridge, which was characteristic of the Tardoire and Bandiat valleys.

See also

References

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