Ainay-le-Château

Ainay-le-Château
Town hall
Coat of arms
Ainay-le-Château
Location within Auvergne region  Ainay-le-Château
Coordinates: 46°42′43″N 2°41′36″E / 46.7119°N 2.6933°ECoordinates: 46°42′43″N 2°41′36″E / 46.7119°N 2.6933°E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Allier
Arrondissement	Montluçon
Canton	Bourbon-l'Archambault
Intercommunality	Pays de Tronçais
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Stephane Milaveau
Area^1	24.07 km^2 (9.29 sq mi)
Population (2013)^2	1,021
• Density	42/km^2 (110/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	03003 / 03360
Elevation	184–252 m (604–827 ft) (avg. 208 m or 682 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ainay-le-Château is a French commune in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Castelainaisiens or Castelainaisiennes.^[1]

Geography

Ainay-le-Château is located some 55 kilometres (34 mi) south-east of Bourges and 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-west of Nevers. The northern border of the commune is the departmental boundary with Cher and the regional boundary with the Centre-Val de Loire region. Access to the commune is by D951 road from Thaumiers in the north which passes through the town and continues south to Cérilly. The D951 from Charenton-du-Cher in the north-west to Bessais-le-Fromental in the north-east passes through the north of the commune. The D28 comes from Braize in the south-west to the town then continues north to join the D951. The D64 goes east from the town to Valigny. There are several country roads in the commune linking the villages and hamlets inside. These include Le Castinerie, Salvert, La Bete, Saint-Benin, Charnoux, La Moullin de la Riviere, and L'Amour.^[2]

The town is traversed by the Marmande river, a tributary of the Cher; and the Sologne river, which feeds into the Marmande. The village overlooks the right bank of the Sologne. There are a number of small lakes at the heads of the streams to the east of the town. On the left bank, the suburb of Mandais is covers both sides of the road from Bourges and the border with the department of Cher passes within 300 metres (980 ft) of the bridge.

The commune is bordered by the Forest of Tronçais to the south with a small portion of the forest in the commune called Taillis de Pontcharaud.

Neighboring Communes and Villages^[2]

History

Ainay-le-Chateau is a medieval town, one of the seventeen Châtelainies of the Dukes of Bourbon. The city was enclosed by walls and a castle stood around the church of Saint-Stephen.

During the French Revolution, the town took the name of Ainay-sur-Sologne.^[3]

The former parish and commune of Saint-Benin was reunited with Ainay-le-Château in 1842 and is today a village east of the town. Saint-Benin carried the Charnoux at the time of the French Revolution.^[3]

Home for people with psychiatric disorders

The town is home for a hospital which runs foster homes for the mentally ill. There are many of those foster homes in the commune and in the surrounding ones. Thus, these people are very well accepted, which allows them to live in optimal conditions. Because of this particular, the town has been featured on TF1 in the program Sept à huit (Seven to Eight) on 31 January 2010 (retransmitted on 21 April 2013), as well as in the program la Fabrique de l'Histoire (Fabric of History) on France Culture on 7 December 2010.^[4]

Heraldry

Blazon: Argent, 3 Palls of sable 2 and 1.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Ainay-le-Château^[5]

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1614		Charles Perrot
1935	1935	François Naudin
1935	1942	Jacques Lablonde
1959	1971	Brunet
1971	1989	Jacques Soulat
1989	1995	Dupre
1995	2008	Pierre Dumas
2008[6]	2020	Stéphane Milaveau

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2013, the commune had 1,021 inhabitants.^[7] The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1]}

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
895	802	986	949	1,147	1,159	1,607	1,719	1,852

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
1,924	2,001	2,203	2,211	2,294	2,278	2,210	1,888	1,818

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
1,815	1,922	1,912	1,586	1,532	1,476	1,540	1,477	1,568

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2007	2010
1,594	1,613	1,552	1,544	1,458	1,165	1,116	1,107	1,050

2013	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1,021	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Economy

In February 2010, according to the commercial register, Ainay-le-Château had 76 companies registered in the commune. There are 61 Real estate and other companies with their headquarters in the town.

Most of them engage in craft activities, shops and services nearby. Since 2005 there have been from 2 to 6 new company registrations per year.

Three different bank branches are available in Town: La Banque Postale, the Banque Populaire, and Crédit Agricole Centre France.

A local specialty is goat cheese.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has two sites that are registered as historical monuments:

• A Public Park^[8]
• The Urban area Fortifications (15th century)^[9] The fortifications include the Clock Gate and the enclosure with towers and walls.

• Fortifications of Ainay-le-Chateau
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Religious heritage

• The Church of Saint Etienne (12th century). is registered as an historical monument.^[10] The Church has a Renaissance doorway and an old porch from the 12th century. The Church contains many items that are registered as historical objects:
  • A Tombstone (1534)^[11]
  • A Tombstone (15th century)^[12]
  • A Cross: Christ on the Cross (17th century)^[13]
  • A Tabernacle with a canopy (17th century)^[14]
  • A Statue: Saint Francis (17th century)^[15]
  • A Statue: Virgin and Child (17th century)^[16]
  • A Group Sculpture: Virgin of Pity (16th century)^[17]
  • A Bas-relief: The House of Lorette (16th century)^[18]
• The Chapel of Saint-Roch contains a Statue: Saint Fiacre (17th century) which is registered as an historical object.^[19]

• Church of Saint Stephen
• 

  The Church Front

• 

  Church entrance

• 

  The nave

• 

  Funerary Slab

• 

  Funerary Slab

• 

  The Tabernacle

• 

  Virgin and child

• 

  House of Lorette

• 

  Pietà from the 16th century

• 

  Notre Dame de la Salette

• Church of Saint Roch
• 
• 

Ainay-le-Château in culture

In autumn 2005 Ainay-le-Château was the location of many of the scenes in Michou d'Auber, a film by Thomas Gilou released in 2007, with Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, and Mathieu Amalric acting.

Notable People linked to the commune

• Paul Guignard, racing cyclist, born on 10 May 1876 at Ainay-le-Château.
• André Lwoff, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1965 together with Jacques Monod and François Jacob.

See also

• Communes of the Allier department

Bibliography

• Henry Grozieux of Laguérenne, Ainay-le-Château in Bourbonnais, a history of the town and lordship from the beginning to the present day, Paris, H. Champion, 1912, 2 vols. in-8vo, fig., pl. and plans; repr. Yzeure, Imprimeries réunies, 1987, Vol. 1, 790 p.
• René Prophète, Ainay-le-Château - Visit to the church and the town, Les Imprimeries Réunies Réveret & Ardillon, Moulins, 1987.

External links

• Ainay-le-Château official website (French)
• Ainay-le-Château on Lion1906
• Ainay-le-Château on Google Maps
• Ainay-le-Château on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (French)
• Ainay-le-Château on the 1750 Cassini Map
• Ainay-le-Château on the INSEE website (French)
• INSEE (French)

Notes and references

Notes

1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 , the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" which allow, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For municipalities with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these municipalities is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

1. "Ainay-le-Château (03360)". habitants.fr (in French). SARL Patagos. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
2. Google Maps
3. Communal Notice for Saint-Benin, Cassini, consulted on 28 June 2012.
4. France Culture 7 Dec 2010 (French)
5. List of Mayors of France (French)
6. Re-elected in 2014: "Liste nominative des communes de l'Allier (avec maire, arrondissement et canton)" [Nominative list of communes of Allier (with mayor, arrondissement and canton)] (PDF). Association of Mayors and Presidents of Communities of Allier. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
7. "Legal populations - Ainay-le-Château". INSEE (in French). Retrieved 23 January 2016. The number of 1,021 inhabitants is the municipal population.
8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA03000185 Public Park (French)
9. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00092971 Urban Area Fortifications (French)
10. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00092970 Church of Saint Etienne (French)
11. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000009 Tombstone (French)
12. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000008 Tombstone (French)
13. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000007 Cross: Christ on the Cross (French)
14. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000006 Tabernacle with canopy (French)
15. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000005 Statue: Saint Francis (French)
16. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000004 Statue: Virgin and child (French)
17. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000003 Group Sculpture: Virgin of Pity (French)
18. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000002 Bas-relief: The House of Lorette (French)
19. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM03000010 Statue: Saint Fiacre (French)