Saint-Viâtre

Saint-Viâtre
The church in Saint-Viâtre
Coat of arms
Saint-Viâtre
Location within Centre-Val de Loire region  Saint-Viâtre
Coordinates: 47°31′27″N 1°56′03″E / 47.5242°N 1.9342°ECoordinates: 47°31′27″N 1°56′03″E / 47.5242°N 1.9342°E
Country	France
Region	Centre-Val de Loire
Department	Loir-et-Cher
Arrondissement	Romorantin-Lanthenay
Canton	Salbris
Intercommunality	Sologne des étangs
Government
• Mayor (2008-2014)	Christian Léonard
Area^1	89.79 km^2 (34.67 sq mi)
Population (1999)^2	1,157
• Density	13/km^2 (33/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	41231 / 41210
Elevation	92–132 m (302–433 ft) (avg. 108 m or 354 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.

Saint-Viâtre is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher département of central France.

History

The village was originally called Tremblevif, from the Latin for "aspen" and "village", but suggesting in the popular imagination a place prone to swamp fever and trembling limbs. In 1854, worried that outsiders might be put off, the villagers successfully petitioned to change the name to Saint-Viâtre ^[1] in honour of a hermit, traditionally known as Viâtre, who had lived in the forests of Sologne. His tomb is in the crypt of the village church.

See also

• Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department

References

• INSEE commune file

1. Graham Robb, The Discovery of France, Picador, London (2007), p.304, quoting Onésime Reclus. France, Algérie et colonies (1866), p.133