Saint-Blancard
Saint-Blancard | |
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Commune | |
![]() The main road in the village | |
![]() ![]() Saint-Blancard Location within Occitanie region ![]() ![]() Saint-Blancard | |
Coordinates: 43°20′42″N 0°38′51″E / 43.345°N 0.6475°ECoordinates: 43°20′42″N 0°38′51″E / 43.345°N 0.6475°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Occitanie |
Department | Gers |
Arrondissement | Mirande |
Canton | Astarac-Gimone |
Intercommunality | Hautes Vallées |
Government | |
• Mayor (2008–2014) | Georges Barthe |
Area1 | 14.87 km2 (5.74 sq mi) |
Population (2008)2 | 334 |
• Density | 22/km2 (58/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | 32365 /32140 |
Elevation |
227–357 m (745–1,171 ft) (avg. 356 m or 1,168 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. |
Saint-Blancard (Gascon: Sent Blancat) is a commune in the Gers department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France.
Geography
Localisation
Saint-Blancard is located on the ridge between the valley of the Gimone in the east and the valley of the Arrats in the west . The D228 crosses the D576 in the village. Auch is at 40 km, Toulouse at 80 km and Tarbes at 60 km from Saint-Blancard.
![](../I/m/Map_commune_FR_insee_code_32365.png)
Hydrography
The Arrats runs in the west of the commune.
South of the village is a small lake for the farmers.
There is a privately owned watermill. To the southeast lies a 6 km long reservoir with a surface area of 263 hectares, Lac de la Gimone. The lake forms the border between Gers and Haute-Garonne. It was created by the placement of a dam on the river Gimone. The commune has a system of streams and small lakes that serve the agriculture.
![](../I/m/Saint-Blancard_meertje.jpg)
Politics
The office of nine communes united under the name Les Hautes Vallees,[1] is located in the village.
Population
Historical population | ||
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Year | Pop. | ±% |
1962 | 273 | — |
1968 | 255 | −6.6% |
1975 | 217 | −14.9% |
1982 | 229 | +5.5% |
1990 | 205 | −10.5% |
1999 | 257 | +25.4% |
2008 | 334 | +30.0% |
The inhabitants are called Saint Blancardais.
Services
With a small shop, the village is still self-supporting. At the store is a gas depot. There is a hairdresser and a post office in Saint-Blancard. The municipality encourages the middle class by counting low rents for buildings. In a former convent school is now a hotel / pub / restaurant next to the town hall. There is a school. There are Bed & Breakfast and there are cottages. There is a football field. In the village is radio Coteaux, 97.7 and 104.5 FM located . At the lake is a nautical center. There is a swimming facility. There is a field for motorized paragliding.
The village has a rehabilitation center. There are also homes for rehabilitation treatment.
Sites of interest
![](../I/m/Saint-Blancard_kasteel.jpg)
![](../I/m/Saint-Blancard_kerk_2.jpg)
![](../I/m/Saint-Blancard_molen.jpg)
The most striking building in town is the castle. The 15th-century church Saint-Pancrare is built next to the castle. At the junktion west of the castle is a monument to a former Count Armand who was also mayor of the village. In a pasture north of the castle stand on a hill, the remains of the windmill (moulin à vent fr) from Saint-Blancard.[2] That place is called Chez Baptiste. In front of the castle is a monument to the fallen, a cross and a statue of Mary. Between these statues is a boules alley with lights located.
In the middle of the village stands a cross aging from 1895 in memory of the famille (family) Furgatte. In the east of the village stands a twelve-foot-high wooden cross back from the seventeenth century.
Notable people
In the village is the Château de Saint-Blancard (Castle of Saint-Blancard). Among the barons and marquesses that lived in the castle were:
- Bernard d'Ornezan,[3] Baron of Saint-Blancard in the diocese of Lombez, around 1400,
- and Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron and Maréchal de camp, mid sixteenth century.
See also
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint-Blancard. |