Rochechouart is a commune

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 Haute-Vienne

Haute-Vienne

Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...

 department in the Limousin

Limousin (région)

Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in west-central France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.

The name of the town comes from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 roca cavardi, which roughly translates as the rock of Cavardus, the lord who had the fortified place built at the beginning of the 11th century. More often than not, natives pronounce it ʁoˈʃwaʁ, not *[ʁɔʃəˈʃwaʁ].

Demographic evolution

• 1962: 4093
• 1968: 4059
• 1975: 4196
• 1982: 4053
• 1990: 3985
• 1999: 3667
• 2006: 3930

Inhabitants are known as Rochechouartais.

Places of interest

The Rochechouart crater

Rochechouart crater

Rochechouart is an impact crater in France.The crater diameter is still under study but is expected to be about . Its most recent age estimate is 201 ±2 million years ago, placing it close to Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Since then the crater has been deeply eroded, and no trace of its original...

 is named after the city that covers part of it.

The Château de Rochechouart

Château de Rochechouart

Château de Rochechouart is a thirteenth century French castle, located at the top of the confluence of the Grêne and Vayres rivers in the commune of Rochechouart within the département of Haute-Vienne.- Background :...

was built in the 13th century.