Espinasse, Puy-de-Dôme

Espinasse
Espinasse
Location within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region  Espinasse
Coordinates: 46°02′19″N 2°42′43″E / 46.0386°N 2.7119°ECoordinates: 46°02′19″N 2°42′43″E / 46.0386°N 2.7119°E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Puy-de-Dôme
Arrondissement	Arrondissement of Riom
Canton	Canton of Saint-Éloy-les-Mines
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes Cœur de Combrailles
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Marc Gidel
Area^1	23.95 km^2 (9.25 sq mi)
Population (2013)^2	294
• Density	12/km^2 (32/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	63152 / 63390
Elevation	598–774 m (1,962–2,539 ft) (avg. 680 m or 2,230 ft)
Website	espinasse63.e-monsite.com
^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.

Espinasse is a French commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Small farming village in the Pays of Combrailles, in the canton of Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, the village is nestled in a hollow, about nine kilometers west of the town of Saint-Gervais-d'Auvergne. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Espinassois or Espinassoises.^[1]

During the Middle Ages and the Early modern period, the region of Combrailles was of paramount importance at territorial level because it was located at the crossroads of several lordships (Bourbonnais, Auvergne and Limousin). Therefore, the town of Espinasse suffered this proximity and was divided into fiefs belonging among others to the House of Le Loup, the House of Montmorency and the House of La Fayette.

Geography

Espinasse is located some 30 km west of Combronde and 23 km north-west of Bromont-Lamothe. Access to the commune is by the D 13 from Charensat in the south-west which passes through the commune and the village before continuing north to Pionsat. The D 62 comes from Saint-Priest-des-Champs in the south-east. The D 18 comes from Saint-Julien-la-Geneste in the north-east. The D 528 comes from Bussières in the north-west. The commune is mixed forest and farmland.^[2]

Neighbouring communes and villages^[3]

Administration

Espinasse Town Hall

List of Successive Mayors since 1800^[4]

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1800	1808	Gilbert Gory
1808	1813	Annet Lecuyer
1813	1815	Jean-Joseph Boutarel
1815	1816	Paul Sanne
1816	1818	Amable Nouhen
1819	1830	Charles Marien Baron
1830	1840	Claude Fribaud
1840	1849	Charles Marien Baron
1849	1875	Frédéric Gory
1875	1877	Marien Martin
1877	1885	Jean Chabry
1885	1889	Marien Lecuyer
1889	1893	François Carton
1893	1895	Gilbert Martin
1895	1904	Etienne Gory
1904	1912	Annet Charvillat
1912	1944	Eugène Charvillat
1944	1959	Michel Carte
1959	1975	Roger Laroche
1975	2005	François Gardet
2005	2020	Marc Gidel

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 308 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1]}

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
837	823	735	1,021	1,025	1,018	1,124	1,200	1,182

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
1,152	1,156	1,082	1,082	1,117	1,139	1,191	1,220	1,105

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
1,157	1,024	974	952	903	771	739	633	593

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2010	2013
543	507	411	355	274	285	320	308	294

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Culture and heritage

Cultural events and festivities

The Hay Fest (La Fête des Foins in French) is the main festival in the village since 1998. It takes place in July.

Tourist monuments and places

• The Church of St. Martin, very old, is partly Romanesque but was changed to the 2nd Gothic era. A statuary element painted white stone shows St. Margaret of Antioch slaying the dragon. It dates from the fifteenth century. Saint Martin is the patron of the parish but is also under the protection of Saint Gal, second patron.
• The local school, completed in 1900, was also a town hall. The building was called Mairie-École at the time.
• The Résistance site at Cacherat - Camp Gabriel Peri - which received on 23 October 1943, one of the two groups of escapees from the prison of Le Puy-en-Velay.
• The Château of Pierrebrune, dating from the thirteenth century, rebuilt to modern, was the residence of the lords of Espinasse. In June 1440 during the Praguerie, King Charles VII, who came from Auzances and went to Montaigut-en-Combraille, passed through Pierrebrune.
• The War Memorial in front of the church.

• 
  The local school
• 
  The Resistance site at Cacherat
• 
  The War Memorial
• 
  The Church of St. Martin

See also

• Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department

External links

• Espinasse website (French)
• Espinasse on Lion1906
• INSEE

Notes and references

Notes

1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

1. Inhabitants of Puy-de-Dôme (French)
2. Google Maps
3. Géoportail, IGN (French)
4. List of Mayors of Espinasse (French)