Cherveux

Cherveux
Cherveux
Location within Poitou-Charentes region  Cherveux
Administration
Country	France
Region	Poitou-Charentes
Department	Deux-Sèvres
Arrondissement	Niort
Canton	Saint-Maixent-l'École-1
Statistics
Land area1	22.2 km2 (8.6 sq mi)
Population2	1,544  (2006)
- Density	70 /km2 (180 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	79086/ 79410
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: 46°24′59″N 0°21′21″W / 46.416389°N 0.355833°W / 46.416389; -0.355833

Cherveux is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.

Origins of Cherveux

Prehistoric period : Flint tools (bifaces-knife-scraper-ax-tips of arrows) buried in the plain testify that the place was inhabited during prehistoric times.

Roman period : Some vestiges attest that the Romans occupied some places

The name of Cherveux : is of Celtic origin, which would indicate that the area originated at a very ancient date. This village was first known under the name of Carvium in 1100, then, a century later as Cherveox and Cheveras until the fifteenth century. It then became Cherveaux, then, by 1603, Chevreoux and later, Cherveus. Then, it was called St Pierre of Cherveux into the Eighteenth century before being only simply Cherveux. Its name would come from hemp (in "local patois": chorbe or chorve). Since this plant was very abundant in this region, many people made their living as weavers and manufacturer of rope).

Cherveux probably owes its existence to a monastery that was settled close to the "motte féodale" that was later to become the powerful fortress of the Lusignans. Monks that lived in it were driven out during the wars that ravaged the Poitou. The monastery has been destroyed and on the site now stands a church that rises on the remains of the ancient monastery, known as St-Pierre's de Poitiers cathedral. Stones that have been found in the church graveyard are shaped like those of Civaux and Nanteuil. In a stable of the castle farm, there is a window that leads to the ruins of the ancient monastery.

Some places around Cherveux called Maurie and the Raberie (spelled before Araberie) remind us of the passage of the Maure and the Arabian.

See also

• Communes of the Deux-Sèvres department

References

• INSEE

External links

• Unofficial Web site (in French)
• Castle of Cherveux (in French)

Bibliography

• E. Gaboreau: Histoire du château et de Cherveux : "Glanes sur Cherveux" 1978.