Salles (Gironde)

Salles is a French small town with 6271 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the Gironde department in the region of Aquitaine. It belongs to the canton of Belin- Béliet and the Local Government Association Communauté de Communes du Val de L' Eyre.

Geography

Salles is located in the south of the Gironde in the Regional Natural Park Landes de Gascogne in the Valley of Eyre (Val d' Eyre ), about 50 kilometers south-west of Bordeaux and 15 kilometers southeast of the Bassin d' Arcachon, a bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Around the village are small hamlets and "quarter" ( quarters ) are arranged. The most important areas are Lavignolle in the northeast, Le Caplanne in the west, the southwest and bilos Lanot in the south. 90 percent of its territory is covered by forest.

History

Archaeological finds on the banks of the Eyre prove the presence of people in the region in prehistoric times. In Gallo -Roman period ( 1st century BC to 5th century) Salles Salomacum ( Salt Market ) was called. Salomacum lay on an important Roman road from Roncesvalles ( Summus pyrenaeus ) in Spain after Kembs ( Cambete ) resulted in Alsace.

Attractions

The Salles castle was built in the 17th century and restored in the 19th century. It is privately owned and is now used as a hotel.

The Church of Salles was built in the 19th century instead of an original older chapel.

Economy

In 1902 a plant for the distillation of resin of the maritime pine and manufacture was built on rosin. The work was in 1925, the then mayor Albert Brun. The plant worked until 1960. Nowadays the buildings are in poor condition.

An original Moulin de Dubern ( Mill of Dubern ) was built in the 15th century. At the same location a new corn mill called the Moulin de Menespher was built in the 18th century. Today's Moulin de Dubern belonged since the beginning of the 20th century Dufaure family that they transformed into a modern mill operation in 1930. Other innovations were carried out in the years 1948 and 1960. 1989, a new mill was built next to the old operation and the operation had four employees. The factory still exists today.

In 1890, a forestry operation has been established with attached sawmill. The sawmill Courbin 1920 was expanded to include a workshop for the manufacture of boxes for packaging food. After a fire in 1956, the factory was rebuilt and enlarged in 1957. Since 1985, the plant supplies companies in France and the European Economic Community. 1989 employed the work that still exists today, 50 employees.