Melle, Deux-Sèvres
| Melle | |
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| Commune | |
Saint-Hilaire Church
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 Melle
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Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
Melle
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| Coordinates: 46°13′22″N 0°08′38″W / 46.2228°N 0.1439°WCoordinates: 46°13′22″N 0°08′38″W / 46.2228°N 0.1439°W | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Deux-Sèvres |
| Arrondissement | Niort |
| Canton | Melle |
| Intercommunality | Canton of Melle |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2008–2014) | Yves Debien |
| Area1 | 9.76 km2 (3.77 sq mi) |
| Population (2006)2 | 3,908 |
| • Density | 400/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 79174 /79500 |
| Elevation | 87–174 m (285–571 ft) (avg. 119 m or 390 ft) |
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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. |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Melle is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.
It is today best known as the home town of Ségolène Royal, the 2007 Socialist candidate for the election of the Presidency of the Republic. The director Laurent Cantet was born here as well as the archaeologist Gaston Deschamps (1861–1931).
The town was founded in the reign of Charlemagne as a mining centre and was, for a time, the home of the French mint: the Aachen penny of Charlemagne, the first coin of Charlemagne to be found at his capital of Aachen/Aix, was minted at Metullo. The silver mines which supplied the mint continued to function off and on before being forgotten altogether in the 18th century, not to be discovered again until the 20th century. The mine is now a tourist attraction and can be visited most days of the year.
In the Middle Ages, Melle flourished as a town, as we can see from its surviving medieval houses and the three churches, built in the Romanesque style during the 11th and 12th centuries.
Melle is an ancient town which has traditional French architecture, some dating back before the 17th century.
Melle is the site of the oldest silver mine in Europe still open to the public. The mine itself is some 20 km (12 mi) long, and visitors can explore 350 m of it, with guided tours each day.
The church of Saint-Hilaire was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. The church of Saint-Hilaire has an "ecclesiastical juke-box" which plays hymns and chants.
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Wikipedia