La Charité-sur-Loire

La Charité-sur-Loire
La Charité-sur-Loire
Commune
	Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame in La Charité-sur-Loire
	Coat of arms
	show Location of La Charité-sur-Loire
	La Charité-sur-Loire Show map of FranceShow map of Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéShow all
	Coordinates: 47°10′40″N 3°01′11″E / 47.1778°N 3.0197°ECoordinates: 47°10′40″N 3°01′11″E / 47.1778°N 3.0197°E
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Nièvre
Arrondissement	Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire
Canton	La Charité-sur-Loire
Intercommunality	Les Bertranges
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Henri Valès
Area 1	15.78 km2 (6.09 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2018)	4,812
• Density	300/km2 (790/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	58059 /58400
Elevation	153–215 m (502–705 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

La Charité-sur-Loire is a commune in the Nièvre department and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

History[]

The settlement of La Charité grew up around the Cluniac priory of that name, founded on an island site in the River Loire in 1089.

During the Hundred Years War, the town was liberated from the English by French forces led by Joan of Arc on December 25, 1429.

A great fire ravaged the town in 1559.

In the second of the French Wars of Religion (1567–8) La Charité withstood eight months of siege by Catholic forces. It would later be one of the fortified towns given the status of Huguenot safe havens by the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (August 1570).

By the time of the French Revolution only a dozen monks remained in the priory, which was sold to private individuals and preserved. An improved highway that was to have been driven through the church was deflected by the report of Prosper Mérimée, the first inspector of monuments (and author of Carmen), who classed it as worth saving in 1840.

Gallery[]

Population[]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1946	5,564	—
1954	5,552	−0.2%
1962	5,742	+3.4%
1968	6,194	+7.9%
1975	6,426	+3.7%
1982	6,416	−0.2%
1990	5,686	−11.4%
1999	5,460	−4.0%
2005	5,405	−1.0%
2015	4,966	−8.1%

Sights[]

The priory church, burial place of Simon I de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton.
The church of Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.

References[]

INSEE commune file

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2018". INSEE. 28 December 2020.