Jouarre

Coat of arms

Jouarre

Location within Île-de-France region

Jouarre

Coordinates: 48°55′38″N 3°07′51″E / 48.9271°N 3.1308°ECoordinates: 48°55′38″N 3°07′51″E / 48.9271°N 3.1308°E

Country

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre

Intercommunality

Pays Fertois

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Pierre Goullieux

Area¹

42.19 km² (16.29 sq mi)

Population (2006)²

4,049

• Density

96/km² (250/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

77238 /77640

Elevation

51–183 m (167–600 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.

Jouarre is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.

It is the site of the Jouarre Abbey, a Merovingian foundation of Abbess Theodochilde or Telchilde, traditionally in 630, inspired by the visit of Columban, the travelling Irish monk who inspired monastic institution-building in the early seventh century. At Jouarre, there was a community of monks as well as nuns, but all were under the rule of the abbess, who in 1225 was granted immunity from interference by the bishop of Meaux, answering only to the Pope.

The Merovingian (pre-Romanesque) crypt beneath the Romanesque abbey church contains a number of burials in sarcophagi, notably that of Theodochilde's brother, Agilbert (died 680), carved with a tableau of the Last Judgment and Christ in Majesty, highlights of pre-Romanesque sculpture. In the mid-ninth century the abbey acquired relics of St. Potentien; the relics assembled at Jouarre attracted pilgrims. The reputation of the house stood so high the abbey received a visit from Pope Innocent II in 1131 and was able to house a synod in 1133. The abbess's submission to the bishop of Meaux did not come about until Bossuet held the post in 1690.

The present convent buildings, once again occupied by Benedictine nuns, date from the eighteenth century; their traditional vegetable and fruit garden (potager) are notable.

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Wikipedia