Puymoyen

Puymoyen is a municipality with 2444 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the Charente region of France in the Poitou -Charentes.

Location

Puymoyen is located about six kilometers ( route ) to the southeast of the city of Angoulême in the ancient cultural landscape of the Angoumois at an altitude of about 140 meters above sea level. inst.

Demographics

In the 19th century the population of about 300 rose to about 700 in 1900 in 1800. Due to the proximity to the city Angoulême and comparatively cheaper property prices, the population of the municipality is - after a break in the decades after the Second World War - in the second half of the 20th century has grown to over 2,400 residents.

Economy

The place is traditionally dominated by agriculture. In the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, some water mills (also for paper making ) operated. Otherwise, determine retail, craft and small service businesses, the economic affairs of the village.

History

On the territory of the municipality bones of a Neanderthal were found. In medieval documents the place is preserved as Poimea ( 1147 ) or as Podiomea ( 1160 ).

Attractions

• The Parish Church ( Église Saint -Vincent ) is a disguised with precisely hewn stone Romanesque building from the 12th century with an unadorned, but by two horizontal cornices into three floors divided crossing tower and a rather inconspicuous apse. The otherwise unadorned portal of the west facade, however, shows a significant offset in depth with undecorated Archivolts arches and two selected columns. The single nave of the church is divided into a broader and a narrower portion; below the transept is a dome on pendentives. The church is recognized as a monument historique since 1969.
• The equipment of the church is an imposing octagonal Romanesque baptismal font from the 13th century, the exterior side is decorated with a checkerboard pattern and small arcades and late Gothic Madonna and Child from the 14th century; both are charged separately under protection.
• The name of the Château du Diable recalls the time of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) when the British were referred to as ' diables rouges ' (' Red Devil '). The building is privately owned; the gate was decorated in 1937 with two evil figures.
• A still in use paper mill from the 17th century, the creek Eaux- Claires in the hamlet of Moulin du Verger is considered the oldest surviving witness of papermaking in Angoumois and is also registered as a monument historique since 1991.
• In the hamlet Charsé are the impressive remains of a former manor house is now part of an estate.

Partner community

• Genainville, Ile -de -France