Domfront En Poiraie
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Domfront en Poiraie (, literally ''Domfront in Pear Orchard'') is a commune in the department of
Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Domfront (the seat), La Haute-Chapelle and Rouellé. Its seat, Domfront, is classed as a
Petites Cités de Caractère Petite Cité de Caractère is a label awarded to towns or villages that meet a set of criteria as set by the Petites Cités de Caractère de France. As of 2021 there are more than 200 communes listed as a Petite Cité de Caractère. History The la ...
.


Geography

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, Le Châtellier, Buais, La Guerdais, Rouellé, L'Hargrinière, La Pichellerie, La Croix Pavée, Saint-Front, Collière and Domfront. It is in size. The highest point in the commune is . The commune is within the Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park. Domfront en Poiraie along with the communes of Perrou,
Les Monts d'Andaine Les Monts d'Andaine () is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Saint-Maurice-du-Désert and La Sauvagère (the seat). Geography The co ...
,
Juvigny Val d'Andaine Juvigny Val d'Andaine () is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of La Baroche-sous-Lucé, Beaulandais, Juvigny-sous-Andaine (the seat), ...
, Dompierre and Champsecret shares part of the Bassin de l'Andainette a
Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
conservation site. The site measures 617 hectares and is home to creatures such as the Bullhead, Brook lamprey and
white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the easter ...
. Domfront en Poiraie also shares another Natura 2000 protected area, Landes du Tertre Bizet et Fosse Arthour, which it shares with two other communes
Lonlay-l'Abbaye Lonlay-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France, situated midway between the towns of Domfront and Flers. It has a beautiful abbey and town square and is surrounded by walks and scenery, including the local viewpoi ...
and Saint-Georges-de-Rouelley. The Andainette, The Varenne, The Egrenne and The Sonce are the four rivers, flowing through this commune.


Population


Points of interest


National heritage sites

The Commune has eight buildings and areas listed as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
. * Château de Domfront are the remains of a castle which was first constructed in the 11th century, which was registered as a monument in 1875. The castle was the birthplace of Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile, daughter of
Henry II, King of England Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainme ...
, and
Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine ( or ; ; , or ; – 1 April 1204) was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As ...
.< *Church of Notre-Dame-sur-l'Eau an eleventh century church, registered as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 1840. *Saint-Julien Church a twentieth century church, decorated internally by Jean Gaudin, it was registered as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 1993. *City walls of Domfront, the walls were first constructed in 1014 by William of Bellême, and later improved on by
Robert II, Count of Artois Robert II (September 1250 – 11 July 1302) was the Count of Artois, the posthumous son and heir of Robert I and Matilda of Brabant. He was a nephew of two kings; Louis IX of France and Charles I of Sicily. A capable military commander and ad ...
who added 24 enclosure towers. Today there are 14 remaining towers. The walls were registered as a monument in 1929. *Lyvonnières Manor a seventeenth century manor house, registered as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 2005. *Manoir de la Guyardière a sixteenth century manor house, registered as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 1992. *Manoir de la Palue a sixteenth century manor house, registered as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 2004. *Sausserie Manor a fourteenth century fortified house, registered as a
Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
in 1955.


Sport

*Hippodrome de la Croix des Landes - Is a Race course that every has
Harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...
in the last Sunday of every July.


Notable people

* Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile - ( – 1214), Queen of Castile and Toledo as wife of
Alfonso VIII of Castile Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (El Noble) or the one of Las Navas (el de las Navas), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at Alarc ...
, was born here. * Claude Duval - (1643 - 1670) a French
highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...
in Restoration England, was born here. * Émile Deshayes de Marcère - (1828 – 1918) a French
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, was born here. *
Auguste Chevalier Auguste Jean Baptiste Chevalier (June 1873, in Domfront – June 1956, in Paris) was a French botanist, taxonomist, and explorer of tropical Africa, especially of French colonial empire in Africa that included Côte d'Ivoire. He also explored an ...
- (1873 – 1956) a French
botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
,
taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...
, and explorer of tropical
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
was born here, and later buried here at the Croix des Landes cemetery. * Gabriel Bablon - (1905 - 1956) a French army officer and Compagnon de la Libération was born here.


Twin towns – sister cities

Domfront en Poiraie is twinned with: *
Burgwedel Burgwedel () is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km northeast of Hanover. It has a population of around 20,200. Politics and Administration Burgwedel consists of ...
, Germany *
Seia Seia () is a municipality in Guarda District in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 21,755, in an area of . Its urban population is about 7,000. Seia was elevated to city status on 3 July 1986. The municipality is situated on the northwestern slop ...
, Portugal


See also

*
Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 381 communes of the Orne department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):


References

Communes of Orne Populated places established in 2016 2016 establishments in France Monuments historiques of Orne Sport in Orne Horse racing venues in France {{Argentan-geo-stub