La Charité-sur-Loire

La Charité-sur-Loire
Commune

Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame in La Charité-sur-Loire

Coat of arms
La Charité-sur-Loire

Coordinates: 47°10′40″N 3°01′11″E / 47.1778°N 3.0197°E / 47.1778; 3.0197Coordinates: 47°10′40″N 3°01′11″E / 47.1778°N 3.0197°E / 47.1778; 3.0197
Country France
Region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department Nièvre
Arrondissement Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire
Canton La Charité-sur-Loire
Intercommunality Pays Charitois
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Gaëtan Gorce
Area1 15.78 km2 (6.09 sq mi)
Population (1999)2 5,460
 • Density 350/km2 (900/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 58059 /58400
Elevation 153–215 m (502–705 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.

La Charité-sur-Loire is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France in the south of Paris.

History

The town began as the first of the Cluniac priories on an island site in the Loire.

A great fire ravaged the town in 1559. In the French Wars of Religion, it was one of the fortified towns granted as Huguenot safe havens by the Peace of Saint-Germain (August 1570). In the Second War the fortified town withstood eight months of siege by Catholic forces.

By the time of the French Revolution only a dozen monks remained in the priory, which was sold to private individuals and preserved. An improved highway that was to be driven through the church was deflected by the report of Prosper Merimée, the first inspector of monuments (and author of Carmen) who classed it as worth saving in 1840.

Demographics

At the 1999 census, the population was 5,460. On 1 January 2005, the estimate was 5,405.

Sights

The priory stands as a ruin. Simon I de Senlis was buried in it. The church Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

See also

References

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