Giel-Courteilles

Giel- Courteilles is a commune with 469 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Orne in Basse-Normandie region.

Geography

The community is located 13 kilometers northwest of the town of Argentan in the north of the department of Orne. The area is drained by the river Orne and the creeks Le Gue Blandin and La Fontaine André; In addition, there is the Ruisseau du Val Renard another creek that divides the municipality into the formerly independent districts and Giel Courteilles.

Culture

In the district of Giel is the Château du Jardin a castle, which was probably built in the 14th century as a manor; since then has renewed the east façade, among others in the early 16th century and carried out by a later owner of an extensive restoration. At the same site along with a 1868 opened an orphanage, which was financed by the then mayor and offered space for 17 boys; later it was enlarged and moved to a farmhouse, where it is still located today.

The village Courteilles was dependent in the Middle Ages by the Lords of Briouze and has a castle called Château de Crèvecoeur. It originated in the 16th century and was destroyed in 1800, shortly after the French Revolution; then it went into private ownership.

In the local economy, agriculture continues to play an important role, beside which the horse breeding has been established. The municipal area has two stud farms, one of which is in possession of the internationally successful rider Albert Cayron.

Development as a community

During the French Revolution originated in 1793 with both Giel Courteilles 275 and 367 residents as independent communities. While the population of Giel remained approximately constant, the neighboring Courteilles suffered a large loss, so that the inhabitants had approximately halved by the mid-20th century. When the two municipalities were merged on 19 February 1965, received the pre-existing double name today, Giel was the larger of the two places. In the decades after the founding initially was a strong population decline and then recorded a sharp rise, which reached its peak around the turn of the millennium.

Population development: