La Charité-sur-Loire

French commune
nomcommune=La Charité-sur-Loire


caption=Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame in La Charité-sur-Loire
latitude=47.17778
longitude=3.01972
insee=58059
cp=58400
région=Bourgogne
département=Nièvre
arrondissement=Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire
canton=La Charité-sur-Loire
(chief town)
intercomm=CC du Pays Charitois
maire=Gaëtan Gorce
mandat=2008-2014
alt mini=153
alt maxi=215 m
area=15.78
sans=5,460
date-sans=1999
dens=346
date-dens=1999

La Charité-sur-Loire is a town and commune of the Nièvre "département", in France. Population (1999): 5,720.

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 formatnum:5460. On 1 January 2005, the estimate was formatnum:5405.

ights

The priory stands as a ruin. 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.

ee also

*Communes of the Nièvre 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

External links

* [http://www.ville-la-charite-sur-loire.fr Official website] fr icon