Confolens ( ; oc, Cofolents, ) is a commune in southwestern France. It is one of the two
sub-prefecture
A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province.
Albania
There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...
s of the
Charente
Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...
department. Confolens is the administrative center of a largely rural district, which has seen the development of tourism in recent years. On 1 January 2016, the former commune
Saint-Germain-de-Confolens
Saint-Germain-de-Confolens (, literally ''Saint-Germain of Confolens''; oc, Sent German sus Vinhana) is a former commune in the Charente department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the commune Confolens.Arrêté préfectoral 28 September 2015
Geography
Confolens is located at the confluence of the Vienne and Goire rivers. This location is at the origin of its name.
Confolens is also at the point where the
Charente
Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...
and Limousin regions meet, hence the name sometimes used to describe the area of "Charente Limousine".
History
Confolens was built around a fortress first mentioned in the eleventh century. It still has picturesque remnants of its medieval past, including city walls and several houses dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. It also features a bridge first mentioned in the fourteenth century, and two churches from the 11th and 14th centuries respectively.
In the nineteenth century, Confolens developed itself as the administrative center for a considerable agriculture area, due to its role as sous-prefecture and the distance of all other major towns
Angoulême
Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins ...
(to the south-west),Limoges and Poitiers are all about 70 kilometres away. It has several handsome nineteenth century administrative buildings, some of which were built by
Paul Abadie
Paul Abadie (9 November 1812 – 3 August 1884) was a French architect and building restorer. He is considered a central representative of French historicism. He was the son of architect Paul Abadie Sr.
Abadie worked on the restoration of Not ...
, who was very active in the region.
There has been limited further urbanization in the twentieth century. The population of the town has aged, and the number of agriculture and industrial jobs have declined. British and Dutch have been acquiring property in and around the town, and now form a significant presence.
One of the most prominent people to have hailed from Confolens is
Émile Roux
Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS (17 December 18533 November 1933) was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist. Roux was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), a co-founder of the Pasteur Institute, and respons ...
, a physician and immunologist who was a close collaborator of Louis Pasteur. The former Confolens high school was named for Roux.
Population
Events
Confolens is the home of the ''Festival de Folklore'', one of France's largest and best known folklore festivals, which takes place annually in August.
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...