Gannat is a commune in the
AllierAllier is a department in south-central France named after the Allier River.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département in central
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Gannat is the
chef-lieu de cantonThe cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 100 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
, and was a
sous-préfecture (sub-prefecture) until 1926, with a population of around 5 800 habitants. There is a
castleA castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress, in that it describes a residence of a monarch or...
(the
Château de GannatThe Château de Gannat is a castle, now a museum, in the town of Gannat in the Allier département of France.-Description:With origins in the 12th century, the Château de Gannat is a typical 14th century defensive castle, built on a square plan flanked with four machicolated towers, linked by high...
), two churches of which one (Saint-Étienne) is partly
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
with a 19th century
Gospel BookThe Gospel Book, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
. The
Cultures du Monde Festival is held every July.
Gannat is a commune in the
AllierAllier is a department in south-central France named after the Allier River.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département in central
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
.
Gannat is the
chef-lieu de cantonThe cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 100 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
, and was a
sous-préfecture (sub-prefecture) until 1926, with a population of around 5 800 habitants. There is a
castleA castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress, in that it describes a residence of a monarch or...
(the
Château de GannatThe Château de Gannat is a castle, now a museum, in the town of Gannat in the Allier département of France.-Description:With origins in the 12th century, the Château de Gannat is a typical 14th century defensive castle, built on a square plan flanked with four machicolated towers, linked by high...
), two churches of which one (Saint-Étienne) is partly
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
with a 19th century
Gospel BookThe Gospel Book, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
. The
Cultures du Monde Festival is held every July. The patron saint of Gannat is Saint Procule.
Gannat is the birthplace of the actress
Sandrine BonnaireSandrine Bonnaire is an internationally renowned French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including a few Hollywood movies....
(born 31 May 1967).
Access and transport
Gannat is situated on the D2009 (previously the
Route nationale 9The Route nationale 9, or RN 9, is a trunk road in France between Moulins in the Loire Valley and the frontier with Spain.-Reclassification:...
) between
MoulinsMoulins is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department.-History:Before the French Revolution, Moulins was the capital of the province of Bourbonnais and the seat of the Dukes of Bourbon. Its documented existence may be traced back at least as far as the year 990. In 1232,...
and
Clermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census....
), D2209 to
VichyVichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It is known as a spa and resort town. It was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944....
and D998 to
Néris-les-Bains Néris-les-Bains is a commune in the Allier department in central France.-References:*...
. It is 18 kilometres west of Vichy and 43 kilometres north of Clermont-Ferrand.
Gannat is linked by to the
A71 autorouteThe A71 autoroute is a motorway in central France. It is also called the l'Arverne. It starts at Orléans and ends at Clermont-Ferrand.-Orléans to Bourges:...
at l'Antenne by the 10km long A719 autoroute.
Gannat is served by the
MontluçonMontluçon is a commune in central France. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's préfecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as Montluçonnais...
-
LapeyrouseLapeyrouse is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Lapeyrouse, Ain* Lapeyrouse, Puy-de-Dôme* Lapeyrouse-Fossat, in the Haute-Garonne département* Lapeyrouse-Mornay, in the Drôme département...
and
Clermont-FerrandClermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census....
to
Lyon||-||}Lyon , often Anglicized as Lyons, is a city in east-central France in the region Rhône-Alpes, situated between Paris and Marseille. Its name is pronounced in French and Arpitan, and or in English...
and
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
railway lines.
History
The most ancient discoveries in Gannat, ancestors of the
rhinocerosRhinoceros , often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is a name used to group five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia. Three of the five species—the Javan, Sumatran and Black Rhinoceros—are...
from the end of the
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
and start of the
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the...
, date back 23 million years. Gannat seems to have been a veritable cemetery for these creatures, so many of their remains have been discovered. Also found are fossils of fish, reptiles, tortoises, crocodiles,
galliform birdsGalliformes are an order of birds containing turkeys, grouse, chickens, quails, and pheasants. More than 250 living species are found worldwide. Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, landfowl, gallinaceous birds or galliforms...
, mammals, marsupials, insectivores, rodents and carnivores. The site is particularly rich in rhinoceros. From 1854, Duvernoy has even described a specimin as
Acerotherium gannatense (the official name is
Diaceratherium lemanense). The most complete rhinoceros skeleton was discovered in 1993 when significant fossils were uncovered at the Sichaux
quarryA quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel...
by paleontologist François Escuillié (notable discoverer of a small proboscidian mammal, ancestor of the elephant from 50 million years ago). Escuillié was behind the establishment of the Rhinopolis Association in 1994 and founder of Eldonia, a society for those specialising in the renovation of fossils and whose activities are linked to Rhinopolis. The Rhinopolis Association is still active in the Gannat quarries and, since the 1990s, has discovered numerous rhinoceros bones.
Gannat is a very important locality for
paleontologyPaleontology
[from Greek: παλαιός "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought"] is the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
. Studies on the fossilised fauna of the Oligocene and early Myocene of the region have been significant not just regionally but throughout France, Europe and internationally.
From primitive occupation to the Gallo-Roman period
Motorway building work around Gannat has allowed the discovery of
quartzQuartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust . It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO
4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO
2.There are many different varieties of...
works which date back 800,000 years. Deposits at Clos de Montsala have revealed
bifaceIn archaeology, a biface is a two-sided stone tool, manufactured through a process of lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides. A profile view of the final product tends to exhibit a lenticular shape . Bifacial artifacts can be made on large flakes or blocks, and may be grouped...
s and bone fragments indicating the presence of hunters around 300,000 years ago.
A structure composed of small
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
blocks containing numerous horse bones as well as an original stone works are the only remains of a small group of hunters who came form the north 17,000 years ago.
The discovery of fossils, silos, wells, ceramcs, bronze or blue glass bracelets, enclosures with entrances, ashes and wood charcoal show that the region was already widely occupied by from the final Bronze Age to the
Second Iron AgeThe La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich trove of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
.
After the resistance of the
GaulsThe Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
at
GergovieGergovie is the name given in the 19th century to the French village of Merdogne on the instructions of emperor Napoleon III...
and the defeat of
VercingétorixVercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe known as the man who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Vercingetorix came to power in 52 BC, when he raised an army and was proclaimed king at Gergovia...
at
AlésiaAlesia may refer to:France*Alesia , an ancient city in Gaul**Battle of Alesia*Alésia , a station in the Paris Métro*Rue d'Alésia, Paris*Le quartier Alésia, an unofficial district of Paris that mostly overlaps Petit-Montrouge...
in 52BC, Gannat was occupied by Romans interested in the riches of the
LimagneThe Limagne is large plain in the Auvergne region of France in the valley of the Allier river, on the edge of the Massif Central. It lies entirely within the departement of Puy de Dome...
. They devloped cultivation by draining the soil.
The Gauls were "Romanised" little by little and many Gallo-Roman structures can be found in surrounding communes. Artisans flourished to satisfy Roman demand. Discoveries from the first century AD include thirty moulds, vases, an oven and two pottery medicine jars. Construction materials were imported and exchanged for local craft or agricultural products. Urban centres eveloped, as well as roads, linking Clermont to Menat, Biozat, Vichy, Gannat, Bègues and Chantelle.
Interesting sites
- Sainte-Croix Gallican church
The term Gallican Church usually refers to the Catholic Church in France from the time of the Declaration of the Clergy of France to that of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution....
- Saint-Étienne Romanesque church
- Château de Gannat
The Château de Gannat is a castle, now a museum, in the town of Gannat in the Allier département of France.-Description:With origins in the 12th century, the Château de Gannat is a typical 14th century defensive castle, built on a square plan flanked with four machicolated towers, linked by high...
(castle, used as prison during the Vichy regimeVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
, now a museum)
- Le Mont Libre : site of numerous traces of prehistory, now exhibited in the Gannat museum La *Chapel at Butte de Gannat : site protected for its flora
In botany, flora has two meanings. The first meaning, flora of an area or of time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life...
Personalities liked to the commune
- Jean Coulon: 1853-1923, sculpture
- Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire is an internationally renowned French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including a few Hollywood movies....
: French actress
- Jean-Marc Lhermet : rugby player, former international and player for ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club AS Montferrandaise, which was founded in 1911 and...
and now manager of the club
- Jean Roche : Founder of the "Festival Des Cultures Du Monde"
- Pierre François Sauret de la Borie : général d'empire
- François Escuillié : paleontologist, founder of Rhinopolis
- Joseph Hennequin (1748-1837) : politician
- Monseigneur François de Fontanges (1744-1806) : Bishop of Nancy
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nancy is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. Erected in 1777, the diocese is currently suffragan to the Archdiocese of Besançon...
from 1783 to 1787, Archbishop of Bourges from 1787 to 1788, Archbishop of ToulouseThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse, is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the Department of Haute-Garonne...
from 1788 to 1801, Archbishop of Autun from 1802 to 1806.
- Victor Fontoynont (1880-1958), Hellenist
Academics who study ancient or modern Greece may be referred to as Hellenists, and thus the study of Greece may be referred to as Hellenism. This should not be confused with the use of Hellenism to mean the spread of Greek culture, nor to describe the neoclassic Hellenism movement....
.
External links