Benquet | |
---|---|
Town hall
|
|
Coordinates: 43°49′51″N 0°30′02″W / 43.8308°N 0.5006°WCoordinates: 43°49′51″N 0°30′02″W / 43.8308°N 0.5006°W | |
Country | France |
Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
Department | Landes |
Arrondissement | Mont-de-Marsan |
Canton | Mont-de-Marsan-Sud |
Government | |
• Mayor (2014–2020) | Pierre Mallet |
Area1 | 29.33 km2 (11.32 sq mi) |
Population (2013)2 | 1,587 |
• Density | 54/km2 (140/sq mi) |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
INSEE/Postal code | 40037 /40280 |
Elevation | 46–91 m (151–299 ft) (avg. 60 m or 200 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Benquet is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.
Benquet is situated 5 miles (8 km) south of Mont-de-Marsan, at the confines of the Landes forest and of the agricultural region of Chalosse. It is 55 miles (89 km) from the Atlantic Ocean.
Neighboring cities are: Saint-Pierre-du-Mont, Bretagne-de-Marsan, Saint-Maurice-sur-Adour, Saint-Sever, Bas-Mauco, Haut-Mauco.
Benquet, belonging to the former royal province of Gascony, was under the rule of the abbey of Saint Sever. Jehan Bernard de Benquet, vassal of the prince of Navarre, had the title of Sénéchal of Marsan and of Gabardan. Fights with French Huguenots are reported here.
Its inhabitants are called Benquetois.
Mostly corn-growing, breeding (ducks, geese), foie-gras making. Agri-foodstuff research center.
Benquet is the twin village of Muespach-le-Haut, on the German border. As a matter of fact, population from Alsace flew their region and found shelter in South-Western France when the Nazi troops arrived in the early stages of World War II.
Churches St John the Baptist (19th century) and Saint Christau (eleventh century). Benquet is a stopover on the medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago Compostela (route of Vézelay). Benquet boasts a the privately owned château de Laurens Castelet and a "miraculous" spring, close to the church of St Christau.