Annepont () is a commune in the

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square ...

department in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Annepontois'' or ''Annepontoises''

Geography

Annepont is located some 15 km south-west of Saint-Jean-d'Angely and 13 km north of Saintes. The A10 autoroute (E5) passes through the west of the commune but has no exit in or near the commune. Access to the commune is by the D127 from Taillebourg to the south-west passing through the village and continuing north to

Mazeray Mazeray () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative divisi ...

. The D230 road also goes east from the village to Juico. The D231 also passes through the south of the commune forming part of the southern border and continues to Écoyeux to the south-east. The commune has extensive forests in the east covering some 40% of the land area with the rest of the commune farmland. The ''Ruisseau de la Blanchardiere'' rises in the east of the commune and flows west joining with numerous other streams.Google Maps
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Toponymy

Toponymists do not mention an old form for this place name so that the etymology of Annepont remains hypothetical.

Albert Dauzat Albert Dauzat (; 4 July 1877 – 31 October 1955) was a French linguist specializing in toponymy and onomastics. Dauzat, a student of Jules Gilliéron, was a director of studies at the École des hautes études École may refer to: * an element ...

saw a compound of the elements ''Anna'', a Germanic personal name, followed by the Gallo-Roman ''Ponte'' (from the Latin ''pons'') meaning "bridge".

Ernest Nègre Ernest Angély Séraphin Nègre (, born 11 October 1907 in Saint-Julien-Gaulène (Tarn), died 15 April 2000 in Toulouse) was a French toponymist. Works * Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France ''Toponymie générale de la France'' (' ...

agreed on the nature of the second element ''-pont'' but interpreted the first in a radically different way: it is possibly the local term ''asne'' meaning "humpbacked" - i.e. "humpbacked bridge". N.B.: There is a Germanic personal name ''Anna'' which is unrelated to the Hebrew personal name ''Hanna(h)'' (giving ''Anna'' then ''Anne''). This anthroponym is an hypocoristic Germanic anthroponym beginning with the element ''Arn-''. The final ''a'' rather indicates a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

origin. This hypothesis is supported by the existence of a number of place names in the region (notably in ''-ville'') so the first element could be a Saxon anthroponym. In addition, archaeological excavations confirm the presence of Saxons in the region. This far south a compound structure is expected rather than the Romanesque ''*Pontanne'' but Annepont is more reminiscent of a toponymic type of northern France marked by Germanic influence and made from a Germanic anthroponym as for Radepont,

Senarpont Senarpont () is a commune in the Somme department and Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Geography Senarpont is situated at the confluence of the rivers Liger and Bresle some 42 km west of Amiens, on the D1015 road. Population ...

, Hubertpont, Carlepont, etc. The solution advocated by Ernest Nègre, if possible phonetically, is even more hypothetical inasmuch as an ancient form of the type ''*Asnepont'' is required.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Population

Distribution of age groups

The population of the commune is younger than the departmental average. Percentage distribution of age groups in Annepont and Charente-Maritime Department in 2017 Source: INSEEÉvolution et structure de la population en 2017: Commune d'Annepont (17011)
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Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

*The Logis of Maine-Moreau (17th century), located in the Annepont countryside, is registered as an historical monument.

Religious heritage

*The Church of Saint-André (12th century) is registered as an historical monument.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The Romanesque church is located on a promontory and distinguished by a gate without a tympanum surrounded by Corinthian

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

s and its ornamented

chevet In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. I ...

beautifully executed. Old houses surrounding the building give a special character to the whole.

Transport

Railway stations and halts

* Taillebourg (Halt) 2.7 km * Saint-Savinien (Halt) 6 km *

Saint-Hilaire-de-Villefranche Saint-Hilaire-de-Villefranche () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. On 1 January 2019, the former commune La Frédière was merged into Saint-Hilaire-de-Villefranche.Brizambourg (Halt) 6.3 km * Saintes 10.6 km * Saint-Jean-d'Angely 13.6 km

Airport and aerodrome

*Rochefort-St-Agnant 28.9 km *

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appellat ...

31 km *Royan-Medis Aerodrome 36.6 km