Le Puy-Notre-Dame

For other places with the same name, see Le Puy (disambiguation).

Le Puy-Notre-Dame

Le Puy-Notre-Dame
Location within Pays de la Loire region Le Puy-Notre-Dame
Coordinates: 47°07′34″N 0°14′02″W / 47.1261°N 0.2339°W / 47.1261; -0.2339Coordinates: 47°07′34″N 0°14′02″W / 47.1261°N 0.2339°W / 47.1261; -0.2339
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Maine-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Saumur
Canton	Montreuil-Bellay
Intercommunality	Saumur Loire Développement
Government
• Mayor	Jean-Luc Claeys
Area¹	15.87 km² (6.13 sq mi)
Population (1999)²	1,236
• Density	78/km² (200/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	49253 / 49260
Elevation	32–106 m (105–348 ft) (avg. 103 m or 338 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.

Le Puy-Notre-Dame or Le Puy is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.

The village is built on the hill of Puy.

Its inhabitants are known as Puechens.

History

Protohistoric traces have been found.

Le Puy (Podio beatae Mariae in the 7th century had become known as Puy-la-Montagne by 1793 and the hill of Puy as Mary's Mountain. William 9th, Duke of Aquitaine is reputed to have brought back a waistband of the Virgin Mary from the Crusades and deposited it in the church. His granddaughter Eleanor of Aquitaine founded a collegial church to honour the relic which, according to legend, facilitated pregnancies and male offspring. Louis XI founded a chapter about 1480 and this became a site of pilgrimage the Sunday after 8 September, the Nativity. The relic can still be viewed here.

The town became a stop on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (17th century houses used by the pilgims still exist).

Its location between the territories of the Counts of Anjou and Aquitaine lent it strategic importance and traces of an encircling town wall remain.

Places

Subterranean refuges exist under the town and Sanziers;
Presshouse at the Château du Lys in Sanziers;
Subterranean dovecote at La Hupponnière;
Cavier mill in ruins;
Ancient Franciscan convent chapel (barn).

Agriculture

Local agricultural production is mixed with vineyards (15 km²), orchards and market gardening taking place alongside pasture and woodlands. Beekeeping also takes place. The Cave Saint-Maur in Sanziers is well worth a visit for its mushroom production. Local A.O.C wines are Anjou, Saumur, and sparkling Saumur.

Administration

List of successive mayors
Date of election	Identity	Capacity
2008	Jean-luc Clayes

Miscellaneous

Puy derives from the Provençal word "Puech", meaning an isolated hill.

External links (in French, unless otherwise indicated)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Le Puy-Notre-Dame.

Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 22, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.