Thénac, Charente-Maritime
Thénac | |
|---|---|
 The town hall in Thénac | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Thénac | |
  Thénac Location within France  Thénac Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Coordinates: 45°40′07″N 0°39′10″W / 45.6686°N 0.6528°W | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Charente-Maritime |
| Arrondissement | Saintes |
| Canton | Thénac |
| Intercommunality | CA Saintes |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2026–2032) | Sylvie Mercier[1] |
Area 1 | 19.17 km2 (7.40 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 1,748 |
| • Density | 91.18/km2 (236.2/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 17444 /17460 |
| Elevation | 7–67 m (23–220 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Thénac (French pronunciation: [tenak]) is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies south of Saintes, within the arrondissement of Saintes, and is the centralising office of the Canton of Thénac.[3][4]
The commune includes the eponymous Neolithic site of Peu-Richard, a classified Gallo-Roman theatre, underground limestone quarries worked since antiquity, and part of the French Air and Space Force's Base aérienne 722.[5][6][7][8] Its population rose from 705 in 1968 to 1,748 in 2023.[9]
Geography
[edit source]Thénac forms part of the Communauté d'agglomération de Saintes, officially named Saintes - Grandes Rives - L'Agglo, and INSEE places it within the area of attraction of Saintes.[3] The commune covers 19.17 km2 (7.40 sq mi), with elevations ranging from 7 m (23 ft) to 67 m (220 ft).[10]
Part of the commune, together with neighbouring Les Gonds, is occupied by Base aérienne 722. The base extends over about 250 hectares south of Saintes and houses, among other units, the École d'enseignement technique de l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (EETAAE). In 2023 it directly employed 870 military personnel. INSEE estimated that 1,090 jobs overall depended on the presence of the base, of which 887 were located in its two host communes, Les Gonds and Thénac.[8]
History
[edit source]Prehistory and antiquity
[edit source]The Neolithic enclosure at Peu-Richard is the eponymous site of the archaeological group or culture known as Peu-Richard. Excavations carried out in 1965 and 1966 produced a substantial assemblage of pottery and flint material and contributed to the reassessment of the relationship between the Matignons and Peu-Richard archaeological groups in western France.[5]
In the Gallo-Roman period a theatre was built at the locality known as Les Arènes, beside the ancient road between Mediolanum Santonum and Burdigala. According to the French Ministry of Culture's monument record, the theatre was approximately 90 m (300 ft) in diameter and was constructed on flat limestone terrain, with a system of semicircular buttresses reinforcing its outer structures.[6] The surviving archaeological site was classified as a monument historique by decree on 18 December 1990. It was acquired by the French state in 1986 and transferred to the commune in 2000.[6]
Nineteenth and twentieth centuries
[edit source]Thénac became closely associated with members of the Eschassériaux family, several of whom played prominent roles in French politics. Joseph Eschassériaux (1753–1823), a member of the Legislative Assembly, the National Convention and the Council of Five Hundred, retired to his estate at Les Arènes and died there in 1823. He had been made a Baron of the Empire in 1810.[11] His brother René Eschassériaux (1754–1831), also a national deputy and later mayor of Saintes, likewise died at Thénac.[12]
Eugène Eschassériaux (1823–1906), son of former deputy Camille Eschassériaux and a member of the same political family, was born and died at Thénac. He represented Charente-Inférieure in successive legislatures between 1849 and 1893 and was also mayor of Thénac.[13]
The limestone quarries became an important local industry. The regional heritage inventory records exploitation of Thénac stone from antiquity and describes the later underground workings, excavated in hard white limestone over several hectares.[7] Quarrying remains active in the 21st century, with building and dimension stone still extracted and processed at Thénac.[14]
A Hispano-Suiza armaments plant was established south of Saintes in the late 1930s. After the Second World War, the French Air Force established a technical training presence on the site. The EETAAE dates its creation to 1949 and received its first class of pupils on 5 May that year.[15][16] The school is now located on Base aérienne 722 and had approximately 600 pupils in 2026.[16]
Landmarks
[edit source]- The Gallo-Roman theatre at Les Arènes is the commune's principal protected archaeological monument. It was classified as a monument historique in 1990.[6]
- The Church of Saint-Pierre is probably of 12th-century origin. It was enlarged in the 15th century, when its Gothic bell tower was added, and underwent extensive restoration in the 19th century under Eugène Eschassériaux. Its surviving Romanesque fabric includes the western portal with five archivolts.[15]
- Château Maguier was begun in 1872 by the parents of the poet Edmond Maguier, who subsequently continued its construction.[15][17] The municipal media library has occupied the château since 2018.[18]
- The Grand Logis belonged to the Eschassériaux family during the 19th century. After Eugène Eschassériaux's death, the older residence was sold to Louis Marlaud, demolished and replaced by the present house in an Anglo-Norman-inspired style. The property was used by French troops during the fighting around the Royan pocket in 1944–1945.[15]
- The underground quarries of Thénac are documented in the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage and remain in commercial operation.[7]
Population
[edit source]| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 705 | — |
| 1975 | 710 | +0.10% |
| 1982 | 807 | +1.85% |
| 1990 | 922 | +1.68% |
| 1999 | 1,082 | +1.79% |
| 2007 | 1,531 | +4.43% |
| 2012 | 1,618 | +1.11% |
| 2017 | 1,677 | +0.72% |
| 2023 | 1,748 | +0.69% |
| Source: INSEE[9] | ||
The population remained almost unchanged between 1968 and 1975, before increasing markedly from the 1980s onwards. It rose from 705 inhabitants in 1968 to 1,748 in 2023.[9] INSEE recorded an average annual population increase of 0.7% between 2017 and 2023.[19]
Notable people
[edit source]- Joseph Eschassériaux (1753–1823), politician, member of the Legislative Assembly, National Convention and Council of Five Hundred, and Baron of the Empire; died at Thénac.[11]
- René Eschassériaux (1754–1831), politician and mayor of Saintes; died at Thénac.[12]
- Eugène Eschassériaux (1823–1906), Bonapartist politician and long-serving deputy for Charente-Inférieure; born and died at Thénac.[13]
- Edmond Maguier (1847–1907), poet and justice of the peace; died at Thénac. His poetry received several awards from regional learned societies.[17]
- Louis Dugauguez (1918–1991), footballer and manager, including manager of the France national football team from 1967 to 1968; born at Thénac.[20]
See also
[edit source]References
[edit source]- ↑ "Vos élus" (in French). Mairie de Thénac. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.
- 1 2 "Commune de Thénac" (in French). INSEE. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "Canton de Thénac" (in French). INSEE. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 Poupet, Jacqueline; Burnez, Claude (1986). "Le camp néolithique de Peu-Richard ; Thénac (Charente-Maritime)". Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française (in French). 83 (5): 151–155. doi:10.3406/bspf.1986.8749.
- 1 2 3 4 "Théâtre gallo-romain" (in French). Ministère de la Culture, Plateforme ouverte du patrimoine. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Carrière souterraine de pierre de taille de Thénac et Saintonge" (in French). Ministère de la Culture, Plateforme ouverte du patrimoine. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 Brunet, Laurent; Ravier, Hugues; Prigent, Jean-Luc (23 October 2025). "La base aérienne de Saintes génère près de 1 000 emplois sur 13 communes". Insee Analyses Nouvelle-Aquitaine (in French). INSEE. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Dossier complet − Commune de Thénac (17444)" (in French). INSEE. 17 August 2026. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "Thénac (17444)" (in French). CartesFrance. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Joseph Eschasseriaux". Base de données des députés français depuis 1789 (in French). Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 "René Eschasseriaux". Base de données des députés français depuis 1789 (in French). Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Eugène, René, François Eschassériaux". Base de données des députés français depuis 1789 (in French). Assemblée nationale. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "La carrière" (in French). Carrières de Thénac et de Saintonge. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Histoire et patrimoine" (in French). Mairie de Thénac. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 "École d'enseignement technique de l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace" (in French). Ministère des Armées et des Anciens combattants. 2026. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Maguier Edmond Eugène Gustave" (in French). Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "Médiathèque" (in French). Mairie de Thénac. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "Comparateur de territoires − Commune de Thénac (17444)" (in French). INSEE. 27 August 2026. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
- ↑ "Louis Dugauguez" (in French). Fédération Française de Football. Retrieved 3 September 2026.
External links
[edit source]- Official website
Media related to Thénac (Charente-Maritime) at Wikimedia Commons
