Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen

French commune
name= Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen
The village in Autum
region=
departement=
arrondissement=Béthune
canton= Houdain
insee=62356
cp=62150
maire=Michel Fréville
mandat=2008-2014
intercomm=Communauté d'agglomération de l'Artois
longitude=2.60055555556
latitude=50.4188888889
alt moy=188 m
alt mini=77 m
alt maxi=186 m
hectares=795
km²=7.95
sans=880
date-sans=1999
dens=110
date-dens=1999

Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen is a village and commune in the Pas-de-Calais "département" in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

Geography

Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen is a farming village situated some convert|10|mi|km|1 south of Bethune and convert|20|mi|km|1 southwest of Lille, on the D57 road.

Population

Places of interest

* The church of Notre-Dame, rebuilt on old foundations during the 19th century.
* A group of dolmen, known as the "Table des Fées" (The Fairies' Table).
* The 13th century castle, the chateau d'Olhain.

Olhain is probably the most famous castle of the Artois region. Its beauty is doubled by its position in the middle of a lake which reflects its picturesque towers and curtain walls. It was also a major stronghold for the Artois in medieval times and testimony to the power of the Olhain family, first mentioned from the 12th century.
The existence of the castle was known early in the 13th century, but the present construction is largely the work of Jean de Nielles, who married Marie d’Olhain at the end of the 15th century.
The marriage of Alix Nielles to Jean de Berghes, Grand Veneur de France (master of hounds) to the King, meant the castle passed to this family, who kept it for more than 450 years. Once confiscated by Charles Quint, it suffered during the wars that ravaged the Artois. Besieged in 1641 by the French, it was partly demolished by the Spaniards in 1654, and finally blown-up and taken by the Dutch in 1710. Restored in 1830, it was abandoned after 1870, and sold by the last Prince of Berghes in 1900. During the last two World Wars, the castle was requisitioned first by French troops, then Canadian and British soldiers. The current owner has restored the castle to its former glory.

See also

*Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

Notes

*"This article is based on the equivalent article from the French Wikipedia, consulted on July 15th 2008."

External links

* [http://www.chateau-olhain.com/index.html Website of the château d'Olhain]
* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=detail&id=26850&req=Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen on the Quid website] fr