Aubigny-les-Pothées (, before 1962: ''Aubigny'') is a commune in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the Grand Est region of northern France.

Geography

Aubigny-les-Pothées is located some 25 km west of Charleville-Mézières and 13 km north of

Signy-l'Abbaye Signy-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the department of Ardennes, in the north-eastern French region of Grand Est. Geography The river Vaux, a small tributary of the Aisne, flows through the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Arden ...

. Access to the commune is by road D978 from Logny-Bogny in the west which passes through the commune and the village and continues east to Rouvroy-sur-Audry. The D985 branches off the D978 at the eastern border of the commune and goes south to Signy-l'Abbaye. The minor D20 road goes north from the village to

Auvillers-les-Forges Auvillers-les-Forges is a commune in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region of northern France. Geography Auvillers-les-Forges is located some 27 km west by north-west of Charleville-Mézières and 22 km east by south-east of H ...

. A railway line passes through the commune from east to west but there is no station in the commune. The nearest station is at Liart to the west. The commune is mixed forest and farmland.Google Maps
/ref> The Audry river flows through the commune and the village from west to east and continues east to join the Sormonne south of

Sormonne Sormonne () is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Geography The river Sormonne, a left tributary of the Meuse, flows through the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes departmen ...

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

Two Merovingian cemeteries have been identified in the commune: one at a place called ''Bocmont'', the other at a place called ''Croix-Ancelet''. The bodies showed the characteristic positioning of ''arms along the body and legs separated'' which predominated in the region in the 6th and 7th centuries.Patrick Perin, ''Historic Review of Ardennes'', No. 5, 1971, pp. 22-25 In the 13th century the village was the main town in ''les Potées'' ecclesiastical domain which was a possession of the chapter of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

.Octave Guelliot, ''Traditional and Popular geography of Ardennes'', Librairie Emile Nourry, 1931 The letter ''h'' in ''Pothées'' was introduced later. Aubigny was the main town of this possession. In 1436 people from

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

burned the Chateau of Aubigny.M. Badin, ''Classical and Administrative departmental geography of France, Department of Ardennes'', 1848, p.163 In the early days of the First World War in 1914, the village church was a very basic hospital. Straw scattered on the ground served as a bed for the wounded.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors Aubigny-les-Pothées has adhered to the charter of the ''Regional Natural Park of the Ardennes'' since its creation in December 2011.

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aubignois'' or ''Aubignoises'' in French.Le nom des habitants du 08 - Ardennes
habitants.fr

Sites and monuments

File:FR-08-Aubigny-les-Pothées.JPG, The church Square File:Aubigny-les-Pothées (Ardennes) église, chevet.JPG, The

chevet In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the Church File:Aubigny-les-Pothées (Ardennes) église, fontaine sous le portail.JPG, The fountain under the entrance of the Church File:Aubigny-les-Pothées (Ardennes) église, sommet de la tour.JPG, The top of the steeple

Notable people linked to the commune

*Edouard Piette (1827-1906) Archaeologist and pre-historian, born in Aubigny-les-Pothées

References

External links

Aubigny-les-Pothées on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Aubigny'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubignylespothees Communes of Ardennes (department)