Domfront, Orne

Domfront

The city hall

Coat of arms
Domfront

Coordinates: 48°31′10″N 0°45′23″W / 48.5194°N 0.7564°W / 48.5194; -0.7564Coordinates: 48°31′10″N 0°45′23″W / 48.5194°N 0.7564°W / 48.5194; -0.7564
Country France
Region Normandy
Department Orne
Arrondissement Alençon
Canton Domfront (chef-lieu)
Intercommunality Communauté de communes du Domfrontais
Government
 • Mayor (2014–-) Bernard Soul
Area1 35.54 km2 (13.72 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 3,976
 • Density 110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 61145 / 61700
Elevation 117–256 m (384–840 ft)
(avg. 135 m or 443 ft)
Website www.ville-domfront.fr

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.

Domfront is a former commune in the Orne department in north-western France.[1] On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Domfront-en-Poiraie.[2]

Geography

Domfront is picturesquely situated on a bluff overlooking the Varenne.[3]

The Romanesque church Notre-Dame-sur-L'eau

Domfront is said to have grown up in the 6th century round the oratory of the hermit St Front, and played an important part in the wars against the English and the French Wars of Religion.[3] Beginning from the strategically sited castle of Domfront, the dispossessed count Henry, youngest son of William the Conqueror, rallied support among local lords and eventually ruled the Anglo-Norman dominions as Henry I of England.[4]

In 1574 it was occupied by the Protestant leader Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, who after a stubborn siege was forced to yield it to Jacques Goyon, count of Matignon.[3]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ↑ INSEE
  2. ↑ Arrêté préfectoral 21 December 2015 (French)
  3. 1 2 3  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Domfront". Encyclopædia Britannica. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 399–400.
  4. ↑ C. Warren Hollister, Henry I (Yale English Monarch) 2001:85ff, 90ff.
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