Barzan (Charente-Maritime)

Barzan is a West commune with 461 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Charente -Maritime in the Poitou -Charentes.

Location

Barzan is located near the Gironde estuary in the ancient cultural landscape of the Saintonge about 33 km ( driving distance ) south-west of Saintes or about 25 kilometers southeast of Royan. The Rock of Talmont with its imposing Romanesque church of Sainte -Radegonde is only about 5.5 kilometers to the northwest.

Demographics

Barzan had in the 19th century stable between 550 and 650 inhabitants. Due to the mechanization of agriculture, the population in the first half of the 20th century as more and more; Since 1975, the trend has slightly reversed.

Economy

Agriculture and Viticulture determine for centuries the economic life of the village; Barzan is one of the Bons Bois wine-growing region of Cognac. Since the 1980s, tourism has been added ( Rentals ) as a source of income; on the banks of the Gironde was Barzan Plage.

History

The story of Barzan goes way back; prehistoric stone axes, arrowheads and pottery shards were found in the municipality and by means of aerial photographs were discovered traces of settlement sites. Since the 7th century BC, Celts settled by the tribe of the Santones in the area, however - was by Caesar in the Gallic Wars ( 58-51 BC) subject - as well as the rest of Gaul. Probably under the Flavian emperors ( 69-96 ) was in the municipal area of the Roman town of Barzan Novioregum and the Gironde - shore, near the Barzan Plage today, was once a harbor. The Roman city had its heyday in the 2nd century; was erected a large bath complex and a theater. After the end of the Roman Empire, so in Gallo- Roman times, the city continued to be inhabited. Only in the Middle Ages, people began to remove the stones of the Roman town, and for the purpose of construction of a new ( non-preserved ) Roman church and some houses of the new village ( mentioned in documents Barlan or Balzan ) carry away, which, however, never its former importance regained and as a farming village continued to exist.

Attractions

• The archaeological site of the Roman city Novioregum lies about a kilometer north of Barzan at the windmill of Fâ; it is to visit for tourists only since 2005. The excavation and restoration work is still in progress: discernible being are the ruins of a bath complex, a theater, a circular temple and storage buildings. An approximately three -kilometer-long aqueduct, which was fed from a point near the present-day town of Chenac -Saint -Seurin- d'Uzet source, the residents of the city furnished with fresh water. A museum at the site shows models of the temple and the baths and found objects (see web link).
• The neo-Gothic parish church ( Église Saint- Pierre ) is a building from the late 19th century, which replaced a dilapidated Romanesque church, the demolition of the municipal council had decided.
• In the 19th century town hall ( mairie ) and school ( école ) were often built next to each other - in Barzan has not yet received such a ensemble.