Gannat
Encyclopedia
Gannat is a commune
in the Allier
department in central France.
Gannat was a sub-prefecture until 1926, with a population of around 5 800 inhabitants. There is a castle
(the Château de Gannat
), two churches of which one (Saint-Étienne) is partly Romanesque
with a 19th-century Gospel Book
. The Cultures du Monde Festival is held every July. The patron saint of Gannat is Saint Procule.
from the end of the Oligocene
and start of the Miocene
, date back 23 million years. Gannat seems to have been a veritable cemetery for these creatures, so many of their remains have been discovered. Also found are fossils of fish, reptiles, tortoises, crocodiles, galliform birds
, mammals, marsupials, insectivores, rodents and carnivores. The site is particularly rich in rhinoceros. From 1854, Duvernoy has even described a specimin as Acerotherium gannatense (the official name is Diaceratherium lemanense). The most complete rhinoceros skeleton was discovered in 1993 when significant fossils were uncovered at the Sichaux quarry
by paleontologist François Escuillié (notable discoverer of a small proboscidian mammal, ancestor of the elephant from 50 million years ago). Escuillié was behind the establishment of the Rhinopolis Association in 1994 and founder of Eldonia, a society for those specialising in the renovation of fossils and whose activities are linked to Rhinopolis. The Rhinopolis Association is still active in the Gannat quarries and, since the 1990s, has discovered numerous rhinoceros bones.
Gannat is a very important locality for paleontology
. Studies on the fossilised fauna of the Oligocene
and early Miocene
of the region have been significant not just regionally but throughout France, Europe and internationally.
From primitive occupation to the Gallo-Roman period
Motorway building work around Gannat has allowed the discovery of quartz
works which date back 800,000 years. Deposits at Clos de Montsala have revealed biface
s and bone fragments indicating the presence of hunters around 300,000 years ago.
A structure composed of small limestone
blocks containing numerous horse bones as well as an original stone works are the only remains of a small group of hunters who came from the north 17,000 years ago.
The discovery of fossils, silos, wells, ceramcs, bronze or blue glass bracelets, enclosures with entrances, ashes and wood charcoal show that the region was already widely occupied by from the final Bronze Age to the Second Iron Age
.
After the resistance of the Gauls
at Gergovie
and the defeat of Vercingétorix
at Alésia
in 52BC, Gannat was occupied by Romans interested in the riches of the Limagne
. They developed cultivation by draining the soil.
The Gauls were "Romanised" little by little and many Gallo-Roman structures can be found in surrounding communes. Artisans flourished to satisfy Roman demand. Discoveries from the first century AD include thirty moulds, vases, an oven and two pottery medicine jars. Construction materials were imported and exchanged for local craft or agricultural products. Urban centres developed, as well as roads, linking Clermont to Menat, Biozat, Vichy, Gannat, Bègues and Chantelle.
) between Moulins
and Clermont-Ferrand
), D2209 to Vichy
and D998 to Néris-les-Bains
. It is 18 kilometres west of Vichy and 43 kilometres north of Clermont-Ferrand.
Gannat is linked by to the A71 autoroute
at l'Antenne by the 10 km long A719 autoroute.
Gannat is served by the Montluçon
- Lapeyrouse
and Clermont-Ferrand
to Lyon
and Bordeaux
railway lines.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Allier
Allier
Allier is a department in central France named after the river Allier.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais.In 1940, the government of Marshal...
department in central France.
Gannat was a sub-prefecture until 1926, with a population of around 5 800 inhabitants. There is a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
(the Château de Gannat
Château de Gannat
The Château de Gannat is a castle, now a museum, in the town of Gannat in the Allier département of France.-Description:With origins in the 12th century, the Château de Gannat is a typical 14th century defensive castle, built on a square plan flanked with four machicolated towers, linked by high...
), two churches of which one (Saint-Étienne) is partly Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
with a 19th-century Gospel Book
Gospel Book
The Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament...
. The Cultures du Monde Festival is held every July. The patron saint of Gannat is Saint Procule.
History
The most ancient discoveries in Gannat, ancestors of the rhinocerosRhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
from the end of the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
and start of the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
, date back 23 million years. Gannat seems to have been a veritable cemetery for these creatures, so many of their remains have been discovered. Also found are fossils of fish, reptiles, tortoises, crocodiles, galliform birds
Galliformes
Galliformes are an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding domestic or game bird, containing turkey, grouse, chicken, New and Old World Quail, ptarmigan, partridge, pheasant, and the Cracidae. Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, landfowl, gallinaceous birds or galliforms...
, mammals, marsupials, insectivores, rodents and carnivores. The site is particularly rich in rhinoceros. From 1854, Duvernoy has even described a specimin as Acerotherium gannatense (the official name is Diaceratherium lemanense). The most complete rhinoceros skeleton was discovered in 1993 when significant fossils were uncovered at the Sichaux quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
by paleontologist François Escuillié (notable discoverer of a small proboscidian mammal, ancestor of the elephant from 50 million years ago). Escuillié was behind the establishment of the Rhinopolis Association in 1994 and founder of Eldonia, a society for those specialising in the renovation of fossils and whose activities are linked to Rhinopolis. The Rhinopolis Association is still active in the Gannat quarries and, since the 1990s, has discovered numerous rhinoceros bones.
Gannat is a very important locality for paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
. Studies on the fossilised fauna of the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
and early Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
of the region have been significant not just regionally but throughout France, Europe and internationally.
From primitive occupation to the Gallo-Roman period
Motorway building work around Gannat has allowed the discovery of quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
works which date back 800,000 years. Deposits at Clos de Montsala have revealed biface
Biface
In archaeology, a biface is a two-sided stone tool and is used as a multi purposes knife, manufactured through a process of lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides. A profile view of the final product tends to exhibit a lenticular shape...
s and bone fragments indicating the presence of hunters around 300,000 years ago.
A structure composed of small limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
blocks containing numerous horse bones as well as an original stone works are the only remains of a small group of hunters who came from the north 17,000 years ago.
The discovery of fossils, silos, wells, ceramcs, bronze or blue glass bracelets, enclosures with entrances, ashes and wood charcoal show that the region was already widely occupied by from the final Bronze Age to the Second Iron Age
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
.
After the resistance of the Gauls
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
at Gergovie
Gergovie
Gergovie is a French village in the commune of La Roche-Blanche in the Puy-de-Dôme département, a few kilometres south of Clermont-Ferrand....
and the defeat of Vercingétorix
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
at Alésia
Alesia
-Places:France*Alesia , an ancient city in Gaul**Battle of Alesia*Alésia , a station in the Paris Métro*Rue d'Alésia, Paris*Le quartier Alésia, an unofficial district of Paris that mostly overlaps Petit-MontrougeUnited States...
in 52BC, Gannat was occupied by Romans interested in the riches of the Limagne
Limagne
The Limagne is large plain in the Auvergne region of France in the valley of the Allier river, on the edge of the Massif Central. It lies entirely within the département of Puy de Dôme...
. They developed cultivation by draining the soil.
The Gauls were "Romanised" little by little and many Gallo-Roman structures can be found in surrounding communes. Artisans flourished to satisfy Roman demand. Discoveries from the first century AD include thirty moulds, vases, an oven and two pottery medicine jars. Construction materials were imported and exchanged for local craft or agricultural products. Urban centres developed, as well as roads, linking Clermont to Menat, Biozat, Vichy, Gannat, Bègues and Chantelle.
Population
Access and transport
Gannat is situated on the D2009 (previously the Route nationale 9Route nationale 9
The Route nationale 9, or RN 9, is a trunk road in France between Moulins and the frontier with Spain.-Reclassification:Much of the route of the RN 9 has now been/or in the process of being upgraded or replaced by the A75 autoroute in particular the section south of Clermont Ferrand to Béziers...
) between Moulins
Moulins, Allier
Moulins is a commune in central France, capital of the Allier department.Among its many tourist attractions are the Maison Mantin the Anne de Beaujeu Museum.-History:...
and Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
), D2209 to Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
and D998 to Néris-les-Bains
Néris-les-Bains
Néris-les-Bains is a commune in the Allier department and in the Auvergne region in central France.-Etymology:The name Néris comes from the Gaul God Nérios, deity personifying the local thermal spring -Geography:...
. It is 18 kilometres west of Vichy and 43 kilometres north of Clermont-Ferrand.
Gannat is linked by to the A71 autoroute
A71 autoroute
The A71 autoroute is a motorway in central France. It is also called the l'Arverne. It starts at Orléans and ends at Clermont-Ferrand.-Orléans to Bourges:...
at l'Antenne by the 10 km long A719 autoroute.
Gannat is served by the Montluçon
Montluçon
Montluçon is a commune in central France. It is the largest commune in the Allier department, although the department's préfecture is located in the smaller town of Moulins. Its inhabitants are known as Montluçonnais...
- Lapeyrouse
Lapeyrouse, Puy-de-Dôme
Lapeyrouse is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-References:*...
and Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
railway lines.
Sights
- Sainte-Croix Gallican churchGallican ChurchThe Gallican Church was the Catholic Church in France from the time of the Declaration of the Clergy of France to that of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution....
- Saint-Étienne Romanesque church
- Château de GannatChâteau de GannatThe Château de Gannat is a castle, now a museum, in the town of Gannat in the Allier département of France.-Description:With origins in the 12th century, the Château de Gannat is a typical 14th century defensive castle, built on a square plan flanked with four machicolated towers, linked by high...
(castle, used as prison during the Vichy regimeVichy FranceVichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, now a museum) - Le Mont Libre : site of numerous traces of prehistory, now exhibited in the Gannat museum La *Chapel at Butte de Gannat : site protected for its floraFloraFlora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
Personalities
- Pierre Roch Jurien de La GravièrePierre Roch Jurien de La GravièrePierre Roch Jurien de La Gravière was a French naval officer.- Biography :Born at Gannat in Allier, La Gravière entered the service under the name Jurien Desvarennes as a novice pilot on the corvette La Favorite in May 1786.Volunteer aspirant on the frigate La Flore 29 November 1787, aspirant, 1st...
, 1772 — 1849, naval officer - Jean Coulon: 1853–1923, sculpture
- Sandrine BonnaireSandrine BonnaireSandrine Bonnaire is a French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including Hollywood movies.Bonnaire was born in the town of Gannat, Allier, in the Auvergne region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. Her acting career began at the age of 16 in...
: French actress - Jean-Marc Lhermet : rugby player, former international and player for ASM Clermont AuvergneASM Clermont AuvergneAssociation Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne are a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system, ASMCA are the were the 2010 France Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club...
and now manager of the club - Jean Roche : Founder of the "Festival Des Cultures Du Monde"
- Pierre François Sauret de la Borie : général d'empire
- François Escuillié : paleontologist, founder of Rhinopolis
- Joseph Hennequin (1748–1837) : politician
- Monseigneur François de Fontanges (1744–1806) : Bishop of NancyRoman Catholic Diocese of NancyThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Nancy is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. Erected in 1777, the diocese is currently suffragan to the Archdiocese of Besançon...
from 1783 to 1787, Archbishop of Bourges from 1787 to 1788, Archbishop of ToulouseRoman Catholic Archdiocese of ToulouseThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse, is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The diocese comprises the Department of Haute-Garonne...
from 1788 to 1801, Archbishop of Autun from 1802 to 1806. - Victor Fontoynont (1880–1958), HellenistHellenism (Academia)Academics who study ancient or modern Greece may be referred to as Hellenists, and thus the study of Greece may be referred to as Hellenism. This should not be confused with the use of Hellenism to mean the spread of Greek culture, nor to describe the neoclassic Hellenism movement....
.