Guéret

Guéret
The park and the Sénatorerie Museum, in Guéret
Coat of arms
Guéret
Location within Limousin region  Guéret
Coordinates: 46°10′17″N 1°52′09″E / 46.1714°N 1.8692°ECoordinates: 46°10′17″N 1°52′09″E / 46.1714°N 1.8692°E
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Creuse
Arrondissement	Guéret
Intercommunality	Guéret Saint-Vaury
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Michel Vergnier (PS)
Area^1	26.21 km^2 (10.12 sq mi)
Population (2008)^2	14,063
• Density	540/km^2 (1,400/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	23096 / 23000
Elevation	350–685 m (1,148–2,247 ft) (avg. 436 m or 1,430 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.

Guéret (French: [ɡeʁɛ]; Occitan: Garait) is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.

Geography

A light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland and a little farming not far from the town centre. It is approximately 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Limoges at the junction of the D942, D940 and the N145 roads.

Map of the Creuse department

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	11,384	—
1968	12,849	+12.9%
1975	14,855	+15.6%
1982	15,720	+5.8%
1990	14,706	−6.5%
1999	14,123	−4.0%
2008	14,063	−0.4%

Sights

• The church of St. Pierre and St. Paul, dating from the thirteenth century.
• The Hotel de Moneyroux (wrongly called "Castle of the Counts of Marche", as no count ever lived in Guéret). This building, of Gothic style, was constructed in the fifteenth century by Antoine Allard. It is now the headquarters of the General Council of the Creuse. It can be visited during public holidays.
• The Presidial, dating from the seventeenth century. This building houses the town hall.
• The Museum of the Sénatorerie. Partly built in eighteenth century, the building served as the residence of senators under Napoleon. Since 1832, the Society of Archaeological and Natural Sciences of the Creuse, one of the oldest learned societies of France has been housed here. It brings together natural history collections and works of art. In 1907, the Hotel de la Sénatorerie museum was surrounded by a park and trees.^[1]
• The war memorial.
• The seventeenth-century chateau of Sainte Feyrer, built on the foundations of a castle from the Middle Ages, of which there are some remains. The building of the eighteenth century was constructed by the architect Brousseau. It has an elegant staircase and the oratory is classified as an historical monument.
• A vast permanent labyrinth is located 3 miles (5 km) south of Guéret.
• Courtille lake, a recreation area south of Guéret, is an artificial lake along a shaded path. With a circumference of about 3 km, it is used for sports and leisure (running, sailing, walking) or picnicking on the grass
• Chabrières forest is large and stretches south of Guéret. It includes: A zoo, where one can see wolves in semi-liberty in large enclosures. Opened in 2001, it is a noted site in the field of protection of this species. There are some huge natural monoliths, linked to local myths and legends and some old granite quarries, once used mainly for cobblestones of the streets of Paris.

Personalities

The wolves of Chabrières

• Antoine Varillas, an historian, was born here in 1624.
• Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979), writer, was born here.
• Madeleine Chapelle (1782–1849), the wife and model of painter Dominique Ingres.^[2][3]
• Pierre Michon (1945), writer, spent his childhood here.

International relations

Guéret is twinned with: Stein, Bavaria, Germany since 1991

See also

• Communes of the Creuse department
• Creuse
• Monts de Gueret Animal Park

References

• INSEE

1. museum of Sénatorerie
2. Biographie de Ingres
3. Biographie de Madeleine Chapelle

External links

• Official town website (French)