Ayrens is a commune in the

Cantal Cantal (; or ) is a rural Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint-Flou ...

department in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

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 south-central

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 ...

Geography

Ayrens is located some 15 km north-west of

Aurillac Aurillac (; ) is the prefecture of the Cantal department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. Geography Aurillac is at above sea level and located at the foot of the Cantal mountains in a small sedimentary basin. The city is b ...

and 5 km north of

Saint-Paul-des-Landes Saint-Paul-des-Landes (; ) is a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Cantal department The following is a list of the 246 Communes of France, communes of the Cantal Department ...

. Access to the commune is by road D52 from

Teissières-de-Cornet Teissières-de-Cornet (; ) is a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Cantal department The following is a list of the 246 Communes of France, communes of the Cantal Departments ...

in the south-east which passes through the village and continues west then south to join the D120 north-east of

Laroquebrou Laroquebrou (; ) is a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Cantal department The following is a list of the 246 Communes of France, communes of the Cantal Departments of France, ...

. The D53 comes from Saint-Paul-des-Landes in the south and also passes through the village before continuing north-east to join the D6 near the border of the commune. The D352 goes north from the village to join the D53 north of the commune. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of: *Les Baraques *Le Bos Niac *Boutonnet *Cels *Ciels *Colin *La Croix-Longue *Jammes *Le Mont *Renac *Selves *Serieys *Tannuies *La Tronque The commune is mainly farmland with extensive forests in the northern part.Google Maps
/ref> The ''Ruisseau du Meyrou'' flows from the south-east through the south of the commune forming a small part of the western border before continuing north to join the ''Eize''. The ''Ruisseau d'Ayrens'' rises in the east of the commune and flows west through the village to the join the ''Ruisseau du Meyrou'' on the western border of the commune. The ''Ruisseau de Braulle'' flows from the west of the commune through the centre north of the village to join the ''Ruisseau du Meyrou'' on the western border. The ''Ruisseau de Praniac'' rises in the north of the commune and forms part of the northern border as it flows west to join the ''Eize''.

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

Ayrens commune lies on the

Paris meridian The Paris meridian is a meridian line running through the Paris Observatory in Paris, France – now longitude 2°20′14.02500″ East. It was a long-standing rival to the Greenwich meridian as the prime meridian of the world. The "Paris meri ...

and on the

45th parallel north The 45th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 45th parallel north is often called the halfway point between the ...

(). It was therefore the fundamental point for the

Bonne projection The Bonne projection is a pseudoconical equal-area map projection, sometimes called a dépôt de la guerre, modified Flamsteed, or a Sylvanus projection. Although named after Rigobert Bonne (1727–1795), the projection was in use prior to his ...

used in the ''Carte d'État-Major'' (General Staff Map) in the 19th century.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors ;Mayors from 1935

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Ayrencois'' or ''Ayrencoises'' in French.

Sites and monuments

*The Château de Clavières, built in the

Troubadour style Taking its name from medieval troubadours, the Troubadour Style () is a rather derisive term, in English usually applied to French historical painting of the early 19th century with idealised depictions of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In ...

, was burnt down on 25 May 1936 and left in ruins. *The Parc de Clavières is registered as an historical monument. File:Vitraux 007 Clavières-Ayrens.JPG, Stained glass in the Chateau of Clavières File:Vitraux 012- Château de Clavières-Ayrens (Cantal).JPG, Stained glass in the Chateau of Clavières File:Chateau Clavières-Ayrens statue troubadour 300x523.jpg, Statue of a Troubadour at the Chateau *The intersection of the

and the

is in a field where four trees were planted on the occasion of the celebration of the

Méridienne verte The ''Méridienne verte'' (Green Meridian) is a project devised by the architect Paul Chemetov for the 2000 celebration in France. It involved marking on the ground the Paris Meridian crossing France from North to South (from Dunkerque in Nord-P ...

(Green Meridian) on 14 July 2000. The trees are arranged in a square whose vertices are directed toward the four cardinal points, which allows the determination of the exact intersection point.

Notable people linked to the commune

*Cardinal Guillaume de La Jugie, restored then lived in the Château of Angouste in the 14th century. *Félix de la Salle de Rochemaure (1856–1915), French

félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...

writer,Marcellin Boudet, ''Necrology of the Duke of La Salle de Rochemaure'', 1915, in RHA, 60 p. lived in the Château of Clavières. *Jean Léon Sanis (Ayrens 1804-?), geographer, professor at the

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...

References

External links

Felibrige official website

Ayrens on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Aireins'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Cantal