Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat

French commune
nomcommune=Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat


caption=Saint-Léonard Church in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat
région=Limousin
département=Haute-Vienne
arrondissement=Limoges
canton=Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (chief town)
insee=87161
cp=87400
maire=Christine Riffaud
mandat=2008-2014
intercomm=CC de Noblat
longitude=1.49139
latitude=45.83833
alt moy= 330 m
alt mini= 250
alt maxi= 444 m
km²=55.59
sans=4,764
date-sans=1999
dens=86
date-dens=1999

Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat ( _oc. Sent Liunard) is a village and commune of the Haute-Vienne "département", in the Limousin "région" of France.

Perched on a hill above the river Vienne, the town is named after Saint Leonard of Noblac, who, as legend suggests, was responsible for the liberation of many prisoners in 11th century France.It is the hometown of famous chemist and physicist, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac.

Demographics

At the 1999 census, the population was formatnum:4764. On 1 January 2004, the estimate was formatnum:4667.

Inhabitants are known as "Miaulétous".

The most famous inhabitant is Raymond Poulidor, the legendary bike racer considered to be the most popular one France ever had. He is in his seventies now and is known as "the eternal second". Despite beginning as a favourite in several Tours de France, he persistently failed to win. He often lost against his biggest rival, Jacques Anquetil, who won the Tour five times. Later on, he competed with Eddy Merckx, who also won five times. Raymond's most famous victory was the classic Milan - Sanremo.

ee also

*Communes of the Haute-Vienne department

References

* [http://www.insee.fr/en/home/home_page.asp INSEE] en icon
* [http://www.ign.fr/rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1&lng_id=EN IGN] en icon