Archiac

Archiac
Archiac Town Centre
Coat of arms
Archiac
Location within Poitou-Charentes region Archiac
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	Jonzac
Canton	Jonzac
Intercommunality	Haute-Saintonge
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Didier Braud
Area1	4.48 km2 (1.73 sq mi)
Population (2009)2	812
• Density	180/km2 (470/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	17016 / 17520
Elevation	48–116 m (157–381 ft) (avg. 111 m or 364 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.

Archiac is a French commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Poitou-Charentes region of southwestern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Archiacais or Archiacaises

Geography

Archiac is located in the south of the department of Charente Maritime in the historic region of Saintonge some 20 km south of Cognac, 15 km north-west of Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire and 15 km north-east of Jonzac. The village has the status of a town and is located at the intersection of two main highways: the D699 from Arthenac in the south-west to Ambleville in the north-east; and the D731 from Cierzac in the north-west which continues south-east from the village. The north-eastern border of the commune is also the border between Charente-Maritime and Charente departments. Other access roads include the D149 which is a short-cut connection between the D699 and the D733 west of the village and the D152 which goes south from the village to Saint-Maigrin. There are also the hamlets of La Grue and Saint-Pierre north-east of the village. Apart from some wooded areas near the village the commune is entirely farmland.

History

Remains of the castle

• In the reign of Charlemagne Archiac was the seat of a viguerie. [ref. needed]
• Upon the removal of Emma, the wife of the lord of Cognac, by the lord of Barbezieux in the 11th century, the Lord of Archiac gave them asylum: the castle was attacked, taken, and burnt.
• In 1219 the Lord of Archiac was Guillaume d'Archiac. During the Hundred Years War the castle was taken and retaken then became a den of Anglo-Gascon thieves before being taken and demolished.
• In 1609 the Barony of Archiac was raised to a marquisate.
• It was forbidden for the Protestant ministers Jacques Fountaines and Jean Hoummeau to preach and the temple was demolished in 1673.

Heraldry

Blazon: Gules, two pales vairé, in chief Or.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1989	1995	Jacques Dusaud
1995	2008	François Robin	DVD
2008	2014	Carole Blanchard
2014	2020	Didier Braud

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2009 the commune had 812 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
1,427	1,533	1,558	1,691	925	965	1,002	1,066	1,124

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
1,148	1,263	1,227	1,172	1,178	1,110	1,097	974	927

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
855	874	802	728	805	793	779	750	737

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2009	-
813	856	890	868	837	864	823	812	-

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

Arthenac was part of the Archiac commune until they were separated in 1831.

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Population of Archiac

Distribution of Age Groups

The population of the town is relatively old. The ratio of persons above the age of 60 years (32.4%) is higher than the national average (21.6%) and the departmental average (28.1%). As for the national and departmental levels, the female population of the commune is higher than the male population. The ratio (53.2%) is higher than the national ratio (51.6%).

Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Archiac and Charente-Maritime Department in 2009

	Archiac	Archiac	Charente-M	Charente-M
Age Range	Men	Women	Men	Women
0 to 14 Years	15.8	14.4	17.2	15.1
15 to 29 Years	15.5	16.0	16.5	14.4
30 to 44 Years	17.4	16.0	18.7	17.9
45 to 59 Years	20.8	19.7	21.0	20.8
60 to 74 Years	16.8	13.9	17.2	17.8
75 to 89 Years	12.9	16.4	9.0	12.4
90 Years+	0.8	3.7	0.5	1.5

Sources:

• Evolution and Structure of the population of the Commune in 2009, INSEE.
• Evolution and Structure of the population of the Department in 2009, INSEE.

Sites and Monuments

General view of the church of Saint-Pierre

• The Parish Church of Saint-Pierre has a fragment of a Statue from the Middle Ages depicting a mitred head which is registered as an historical object.
• A Dolmen near Lavaure. [ref. needed]
• A Chateau from the 9th century, repaired in the 11th century but now disappeared. It included the chapels of Our Lady and Saint-Martin. [ref. needed]
• The House of the Vine and Fragrances

Notable People linked to the commune

• Cardinal Simon d'Archiac (14th century) was born in Archiac.

See also

• Communes of the Charente department

External links

• Archiac on the National Geographic Institute website (French)
• Archiac on Lion1906
• Archiac on Google Maps
• Archiac on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (French)
• Archiac on the 1750 Cassini Map
• Archiac on the INSEE website (French)
• INSEE (French)