Puycelsi

Puycelsi (before 2011: Puycelci)[2] is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.

Puycelsi
Commune
15th-century house in Puycelsi
Coat of arms
Location of Puycelsi
Puycelsi
Puycelsi
Coordinates: 43°59′38″N 1°42′39″E
CountryFrance
RegionOccitanie
DepartmentTarn
ArrondissementAlbi
CantonVignobles et Bastides
IntercommunalityVère Grésigne
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Henry Féral
Area
1
39.2 km2 (15.1 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
449
 • Density11/km2 (30/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
81217 /81140
Elevation132–367 m (433–1,204 ft)
(avg. 280 m or 920 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The Most Beautiful Villages of France") association. It has 463 inhabitants in 2013.

Toponym

The name of "Puycelci", or "Puycelsi" comes from the Celtic "Celto Dun", a wooden fortress built on a hill, or oppidum, later transformed into "Podium Celsium" by the Romans.

History

The village itself was founded in a location close to the ancient prehistoric site by Benedictine Monks from the Aurillac Abbey in the 10th century. It stands high above the right bank of the Vère, which flows northwestward through the commune.

The first castle was dismantled after the Treaty of Meaux-Paris, in 1229, but the village remained a stronghold. Though it was besieged several times in the 13th and 14th centuries, it was reportedly never taken by force.

Until the First World War, the village was quite prosperous, with a population of nearly 2,000 in 1830. Almost abandoned in the 1950s, it has since been restored by its inhabitants and is now listed among the “Most Beautiful Villages of France”.

Notable buildings
Renaissance House
  • the 14th century ramparts, and the Irissou Gate with its double defensive system
  • the St-Roch Chapel, built in 1703
  • the 15th-century castle
  • 15th-and-16th-century houses, including the town hall
  • the 14th-15th-century St-Corneille Church, with classified well-preserved ancient furniture

Demography
Historical population of Puycelsi
(Source: INSEE[3])
Year19621968197519821990199920042013
Population503535480442453495494463

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Décret n° 2011-311 22 March 2011 (in French)
  3. Puycelsi sur le site de l'Insee



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