- Combourg
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Combourg
Komborn
Château de Combourg 
CombourgLocation within Brittany region
CombourgAdministration Country France Region Brittany Department Ille-et-Vilaine Arrondissement Saint-Malo Canton Combourg Intercommunality Bretagne Romantique Mayor Joël Le Besco
(2008—2014)Statistics Elevation 29–120 m (95–390 ft)
(avg. 66 m/217 ft)Land area1 63.55 km2 (24.54 sq mi) Population2 4,850 (1999) - Density 76 /km2 (200 /sq mi) INSEE/Postal code 35085/ 35270 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. Coordinates: 48°24′34″N 1°45′02″W / 48.4094444444°N 1.75055555556°W
Combourg (Breton: Komborn, Gallo: Conbórn) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.
Contents
Demographics
Inhabitants of Combourg are called Combourgeois and, more rarely Combournais.
Historical population of Combourg 1810 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 4170 4339 4457 4647 4733 4843 4850 5223 From the year 1962 on: population without double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once. History
Arthur Young, the English writer and economist, visited Combourg on his travels through France in 1788. He wrote of the town:
SEPTEMBER 1 [1788]. The country has a savage aspect; husbandry not much further advanced, at least in skill, than among the Hurons, which appears incredible amidst enclosures; the people almost as wild as their country, and their town of Combourg one of the most brutal filthy places that can be seen; mud houses, no windows, and a pavement so broken, as to impede all passengers, but ease none — yet here is a chateau, and inhabited; who is this Monsieur de Chateaubriant, the owner, that has nerves strung for a residence amidst such filth and poverty? Below this hideous heap of wretchedness is a fine lake, surrounded by well wooded enclosures.[1]
Chateaubriand commented later: "This M. de Chateaubriand was my father. The retreat that seemed so hideous to the ill-tempered agronomist was a fine and noble dwelling, albeit dark and solemn."[2] He did not comment on Young's description of the town.[3]
Famous people
François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848) grew up in his family's castle, the Château de Combourg.
Twin town
Combourg is twinned with Waldmünchen, in Bavaria, Germany.
See also
References
External links
- Official website (French)
- Combourg's Tourism Information Center site ((English)
- Cultural Heritage (French)
Place Chateaubriand
Categories:- Communes of Ille-et-Vilaine
- Ille-et-Vilaine geography stubs
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