Brantôme, Dordogne

French commune
nomcommune=Brantôme
The Abbey of Brantôme and its "clocher"
région=Aquitaine
département=Dordogne
arrondissement=Périgueux
canton=Brantôme
insee=24064
cp=24310
maire=
mandat=
intercomm=Brantômois
longitude=0.649722222222
latitude=45.365
alt moy=
alt mini=94
alt maxi=208 m
hectares=3465
km²=34.65
sans=2043
date-sans=1999
dens=58
date-dens=1999
website=http://www.ville.brantome.fr

Brantôme ("Brantòsme" in Occitan) is a commune in the Dordogne department in southwestern France.

It is the seat of the canton of Brantôme. Via Lemovicensis, an ancient Roman Road runs through Brantôme. The commune, which retains its picturesque atmosphere, is situated along the river Dronne.

History

The commune started to develop on an island encircled by a sweep of the river Dronne next to the Benedictine Abbey of Brantôme, which was founded in 769 by Charlemagne; according to legend he donated relics of Saint Sicarius (Sicaire), one of the infants in the Massacre of the Innocents. Those relics attracted pilgrims to the abbey, who also brought a certain affluence to Brantôme, but in spite of St. Sicaire's protection, the abbey was laid waste in 848 and in 857 by Viking rovers who had advanced along the Dordogne and Isle rivers to the Dronne. The abbey was rebuilt towards the end of the tenth century and again in 1465 and in 1480 after the end of the Hundred Years' War. Its Romanesque bell-tower is a competitor for the title "oldest in France" [Viollet-le-Duc included a drawing of it in his "Dictionnaire" to illustrate the entry "clocher".] and developed a high reputation. Here Bertrand du Guesclin, battling the English Angevins, apprised that he had been made Constable of France by Charles V. Pierre de Mareuil, abbot from 1538-56, built a right-angled bridge, the "Pont Coudé", over the river, which connected the elegant Renaissance abbot's lodging he built for himself with its garden, which lay on the opposite bank. He was succeeded by his nephew, Pierre de Bourdeille (abbot from 1558-1614), a soldier and writer better known by his title as Abbé Brantôme, whose diplomacy saved the abbey and its commune from the Huguenot forces of Gaspard de Coligny on two occasions in 1569 during the Wars of Religion. At the French Revolution, the abbey was secularised as a "bien national", the last seven monks pensioned and its rich library dispersed.

Historical population

Its river-meadow location earns it the regional title 'the Venice of the "Perigord"'

ee also

*Communes of the Dordogne département

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ville-brantome.fr/index2.php?r=1&width=1024&height=768 The official website of the town of Brantôme]
* [http://www.ign.fr/affiche_rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1087&CommuneId=24 Brantôme on the l'Institut Géographique National site]
* [http://www.recensement.insee.fr/RP99/rp99/co_navigation.co_page?nivgeo=C&codgeo=24&theme=ALL&typeprod=ALL&lang=FR&quelcas=LISTE Brantôme in the INSEE site]
* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=query&req=Brantôme Brantôme on the Quid site]
* [http://www.lion1906.com/Pages/ResultatLocalisation.php?InseeVille=240 Location of Brantôme in the map of France]
*Map and aerial photos:
**Street
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=45.365&longitude=.649772&zoom=6 Street map from Mapquest] , [http://local.live.com/map.aspx?&lats1=46.365&lons1=.649772&alts1=35 LiveLocal] or [http://maps.google.com/maps?||=45.365,.649772 Google] or [http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?lat=45.365&lon=.649772&mag=2 Yahoo! Maps]
**Satellite
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.365,.649772&spn=0.11,0.18&t=k Google] or [http://virtualearth.msn.com/default.aspx?cp=45.365|.649772&style=h&lvl=15&v=1 Microsoft Virtual Earth] - image now available