Lizonne

The River at Rochebeaucourt -et- Argentine

The pent-up Nizonne at Lavergne, municipality of Saint -Sulpice- de -Mareuil

The Lizonne ( hereinafter referred to as the headwaters to Édon Nizonne ), Occitan Lisona or Nisona, is a river in France, which runs in the Aquitaine region and marks the borders to the neighboring region of Poitou -Charentes over long distances.

Etymology

The name is derived from the root Lisonne Leiz or Lez, basque Leize ( torrent ), and the ending onna from.

Communities along the river

In Dordogne:

• Canton Nontron: Sceau - Saint-Angel
• Saint-Front- sur- Nizonne

• Champeaux -et -la- Chapelle- Pommier
• Rudeau - Ladosse
• Saint- Sulpice- de -Mareuil
• Puyrenier
• Beaussac
• Les Graulges
• Sainte -Croix -de- Mareuil
• La Rochebeaucourt -et- Argentine

• Champagne -et -Fontaine
• Vendoire
• Nanteuil- Auriac -de- Bourzac
• Bouteilles -Saint -Sébastien
• Saint -Paul -Lizonne

• Allemans ( mouth )

In Charente:

• Canton of Villebois -Lavalette: Combiers
• Édon
• Blanzaguet -Saint- Cybard
• Gurat
• Vaux -Lavalette

• Salles -Lavalette
• Palluaud

• Saint- Séverin ( mouth )

Course

The Lizonne rises to 200 meters above sea level in the Périgord -Limousin Regional Natural Park, near the hamlet Moreliere in the municipality of Sceau -Saint- Angel. You drained initially in a westerly direction, and, after about 20 km as the left tributary of the Belle on. Then she turns to the southeast and reserves at 14 kilometers in this direction. From Gurat it then flows further 27 kilometers to the south and ends after 61 kilometers at 48 meters above sea level near the town of Le Pontet at the boundary of the municipality of Saint- Séverin Allemans and as a right tributary of the Dronne. On their way the Lizonne crosses the Dordogne and touches on their last 20 kilometers and the Charente.

Geology

The course of Lizonne done entirely in flat-lying sedimentary rocks of the northern Aquitaine basin. The source of Lizonne is located in the nodular Ligériens ( Unterturon ). The river follows this formation to Champeau, where he switches to the stratigraphically higher Angoumien. Before Combiers he then strikes Coniacian followed by spätpleistozänem colluvium, which emerged from the sands Santoniums. Just before La Rochebeaucourt crosses the Lizonne the disturbance of Mareuil- anticline and is thereby thrown back into the stratigraphically lower Turonian. Here are other minor disturbances, but without significant offsets in Argentine. In Nadaillac the Lizonne flows through again Coniacian. In the further course of the river cuts through typical chalk layers of Santoniums and finally from Gurat also the Campanian ( to the mouth ).

Hydrology

The Lizonne has a slope of 2.51 m / km. Its catchment area is 640 square kilometers in size. It has an average discharge rate of 5.28 m3 / s ( observation station of Saint- Séverin ). In Saint- Séverin was born on 4 March 2007, a maximum discharge rate of 55.9 m3 / s measured ( daily average value ). This value was exceeded on 10 November 2000 by an instantaneous peak value of 63.2 m3.

Ecology

The Valley of Nizonne is recognized as an important natural reserve in accordance with Natura 2000, has to have the following endangered species: mink Mustela lutreola, Austropotamobius pallipes clawed crayfish, the Karpfentaxa sericeus amarus Rhodeus and Chondrostoma Toxostoma and Rivervale - Heath Coenonympha oedippus. Furthermore, two ecotopes of type 1 exist (French ZNIEFF - zone d' interet écologique naturelle, et faunistique floristic ):

• In Nizonnetal with a total of 2649 hectares
• In the peat bogs of Lizonne at Vendoire.

History

Human traces of settlement in the Lizonnetal go up to the Upper Paleolithic back ( finds from the Mousterian and Solutrean in the community Édon at Gavechou, La Cassine and Le Moulin de Ménieux, as well as from the late Magdalenian at Les Fieux, municipality of La Rochebeaucourt -et- Argentine). From the Mesolithic several hill settlements originate on the right side of the valley ( in the municipality Combiers at La Serve Le Chalard and Les Bernouilles, as well as in the community Édon at La Gonterie and La Verrerie ). Open settlements of the late Neolithic period were discovered in the district of Champagne -et -Fontaine ( Moulin du Vivier, Puy de Versac ). Remains from the Bronze Age culture of Artenac come from the community Vendoire ( Moulin de Mondot ). Are located on the latter finding place also the remains of a Gallo- Roman villa and possible, a Roman road.

In the Middle Ages, around the year 1000 then the still existing village communities arose with the first administrative structures. Numerous Romanesque churches line the course of the Lizonne. For the same time period several fortifications ( Puyrateau at Gurat, Villebois -Lavalette, Castle of Argentine) and built on hills military jumps originate ( Grésignac in the town of La Chapelle- Grésignac, Haute Fayette in the community Édon ).

The Lizonne was once a border river between the Gallic tribes of Santones in the northwest and the Petrocoriern in the southeast. Later, the language border between the Langue d' oïl in the northwest and the Langue d'oc established along its course in the southeast (French / Occitan ).

Sights on the River

• The Romanesque church of Saint-Front of Saint-Front- sur- Nizonne.
• The church of Saint -Martin of Champeau.
• The Château des Bernadières at Champeau.
• The Château d' Aucors at Beaussac.
• The church of Saint -Théodore La Rochebeaucourt.
• The underground rock church of Saint -Georges Gurat.
• The peat bogs of Lizonne at Vendoire.