Airan () is a former commune in the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of northwestern

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 ...

. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Valambray.

Geography

Airan is located some 17 km south-east of

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

and 25 km east by south-east of

Lisieux Lisieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pa ...

. It can be accessed from the D40 from Vimont in the north-west, passing through the south of the commune and continuing south-east to

Vieux-Fumé Vieux Fumé () is a former Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2017, ...

. The D613 (Route de Paris) also from Vimont passes through the north of the commune and continues east to

Crèvecœur-en-Auge Crèvecœur-en-Auge (, ) is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Mézidon Vallée d'Auge.Moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...

in the west which passes through the village then the heart of the commune before continuing south-east to Cesny-aux-Vignes. There is also the D43 road coming from the north through the village and continuing south to Fierville-Bray. The railway from Caen to Mézidon-Canon passes through the commune from west to east but there is no station in the commune. The nearest station is Bonafini to the west. The commune is quite large in extent and consists almost entirely of farmland with a few small patches of forest. Apart from the village there are also the hamlets of Le Haute-des-Pedouzes, Le Ruel, Valmeray, and Coupigny.Google Maps
/ref> The ''Muance'' river forms part of the western border of the commune before it flows west then north to join the Dives river through a network of canals near Bures-sur-Dives. The ''Douet'' also rises in the north of the commune and forms part of the northern border before continuing north to join the Dives near Hernetot.

Toponymy

The name is of Continental Germanic origin in an area where such origins are rare (''Heidram'' from the 9th century), possibly a personal name taken from ''Heidrammus'' or alternatively the name ''-ham'' preceded by an appellative or an unidentified person's name.

History

Archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of a

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

. There is a legend of the famous ''Treasure of Airan''. In 1942, the resistance caused two derailments in the commune - on the night of 15 to 16 April and also on 30 April to 1 May. These two derailments left a total of forty dead and fifty wounded German soldiers who were on leave in these trains. Following this Nazi repression was brutal for many hostages: some were shot, others deported.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Airan

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Airannais'' or ''Airannaises'' in French.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: *A Water Mill (1682) is typical of the Caen region. *The Chateau of Coupigny (18th century) *The Chateau of Coupigny Park (18th century) ;Other sites of interest *Valmeray Tower and its surroundings are classified by DREAL Lower Normandy as an historical monument. The ruined tower is located in a hamlet near Airan. An old legend tells of a

secret passage Secret passages, also commonly referred to as hidden passages or secret tunnels, are hidden routes used for stealthy travel, escape, or movement of people and goods. They are sometimes inside buildings leading to secret rooms. Others allow pe ...

connecting the tower to the church at Airan. The legend also says that the old

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

from the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

is hidden in the secret passage. Many people have tried to find it but without success. *The Alley of Lime Trees along the D43 is also registered with DREAL.

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: *The Church of Saint Germain (12th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée has a Romanesque facade.

Picture Gallery

Tour_de_Valmeray_Airan.jpg, Valmeray Tower Airan église Saint-Germain.JPG, The Church of Saint-Germain Chateau Coupigny.JPG, Coupigny Castle Airan moulin à eau.JPG, The Watermill Airan lavoir.JPG, The

Lavoir A lavoir (, wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by s ...

(Public laundry) on the Muance river File:Airan église Saint-Germain modillon 03.JPG, Gargoyle on the Church

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{authority control Former communes of Calvados (department) Populated places disestablished in 2017