Genté

Genté is a southwestern French village with 903 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Charente in the south of Poitou -Charentes region.

Location

Genté lies at an altitude of about 65 meters above sea level. inst and about 8 km ( driving distance ) south of Cognac; the capital of Canton, Segonzac, is located about 8 kilometers to the east. The lovely double municipality Salles- d'Angles is only 2.5 and 4.5 kilometers south-west.

Demographics

In the first census in France in 1793, the city had 592 inhabitants; in the mid-19th century, there were nearly 1,000. In the aftermath of the phylloxera crisis, the population of the late 19th and early 20th century to about 500 to 600 declined.

Economy

The agriculture and especially the wine played in the villages of the Charente always been an important role. While cereals, vegetables and oilseeds (sunflower ) were mainly cultivated for its own needs, you could earn with the wine (and later brandy ) export to England, Scotland and other northern European countries good money, however with the winemakers lower with the had to settle for some of the credit. Today, the south bank of the Charente heard at Genté State of the Grande Champagne within the large -growing region of Cognac wines.

On the northern edge of the municipality lies with the military airfield Cognac Chateau Bernard, another important employer in the region.

History

In the field of community Neolithic small finds were made; Roman or Gallo-Roman things have not been done. As the local church shows Genté was inhabited during the Middle Ages; bequeathed in 1281 Guido I of Lusignan the places Genté and Salles to his nephew Guy de Mortemer. In the 16th century the estate passed to the family of La Rochefoucauld. About destructions during sectarian clashes between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th century nothing is known; also by the events of the French Revolution the place remained largely unaffected.

Attractions

• The church of Saint -Médard was founded in the 11th century; from the 12th century come the chancel with its exceptional gable facade, the central tower and the west portal, which formerly led into the interior of the church has a single nave. Its present appearance she received through the construction of the now three-aisled nave in the 14th century. It is both in terms of the façade as well as because of their three-nave Gothic nave of a church building in the Charente quite unusual: The west facade is very uniform in stone processing; the portal zone is composed of three arches, of which the middle is slightly increased (triumphal arch motif ); above which is a frieze of figures with mythical creatures. Another portal leads into the north aisle and shows - as well as the windows of the aisles - clearly Gothic forms. The mighty stabilizing buttresses on the exterior are additions of the 16th century; may the windows of the Gothic nave been reduced in this context. The church was recognized in 1984 as a monument historique. Several items of equipment were recognized as culturally significant.
• Far from the village there is a fountain whose water flowed into several basins, ( abreuvoirs ) were used both as washing places ( lavoirs ) as well as cattle troughs.
• Several farmhouses ( fermes ), the priest's house ( presbytery ) and the school are also of historical importance