Authie () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

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

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of north-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Althavillais'' or ''Althavillaises''. The commune has been awarded one flower by the ''National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom'' in the ''Competition of cities and villages in Bloom''.

Geography

Authie is located some north-west of the centre of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Villons-les-Buissons Villons-les-Buissons () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 528 communes of the Calvados depar ...

in the north-east which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues to Carpiquet in the south. The D220C also goes south-east from the village to the urban area of Caen. There are also the hamlets of Hameau de Saint-Louet, Franqueville, Fermie du Calvaire, and Cussy in the commune. Apart from the large residential area the commune is entirely farmland.Google Maps
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Toponymy

The name of the town is attested in the forms ''Alteium'' in 1227 and ''Auteya'' in 1264. Albert Dauzat matched ''Authie'' with '' Authie'' in Somme department (''Altegiam'' 830) on the coastal river Authie (''Alteia'' 723) and considers it primarily as a hydronym but does not provide any further explanation. According to René Lepelley this toponym is based on the pre-Celtic element ''alt'' in an unknown sense and is close to ''Authou'' in

Pont-Authou Pont-Authou () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territori ...

. François de Beaurepaire sees a Gallic (Celtic) element in the ''alt'' in Authou. The Gallic term ''Attegia'' was recognized by Xavier Delamarre in

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

-type names - e.g. ''Athis'' in the sense of "cabin or hut". This analyses to ''ad-'' (pre-verb) and ''tegia'' meaning "house" (cf. Old Irish ''teg'', old Welsh ''tig'', Welsh ''Ty'', Old Breton ''tig'', and Breton ''ti'' all meaning "house"). It is likely that Authie contains the same element ''tegia'' preceded by another prefix. From a phonetic point of view there is a palatalization of the intervocalic consonant where becomes and then an Amuïssement or attenuation of �� a recurrent phenomenon in phonetics. The same author explains that ''

Arthies Arthies () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the . Geography Arthies is located approximately 50 km from Paris. Population See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department ...

'' (''Artegiae'' 680) may come from ''*Are-tegia'' which is a possible solution for Authie, knowing that regularly becomes before a consonant. The name ''Altavilla'' is either a medieval romanization of a place named ''Hauteville'' as in Hauteville in

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.twinning associations with: *

North Baddesley North Baddesley is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is situated east of the town of Romsey and north of Southampton. It occupies an area of approximately , and is home to a population of just over 10,000 people, reduci ...

(United Kingdom) since 1993.

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,595 inhabitants.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has one site that is registered as an historical monument: *An Ornamental Garden in the Château of Authie (18th century) *The Monument to the Canadians dedicated to the victims of the taking of the village in 1944

Religious heritage

The commune has two religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: *The Church of Saint Vigor (12th century) *A Cemetery Cross (18th century) The Church contains one item that is registered as an historical object: *A Bronze Bell (1704)Ministry of Culture, Palissy File:FranceNormandieAuthieEglise.jpg, Saint Vigor church File:Authie église Saint-Vigor portail.JPG, Saint-Vigor Portal File:FranceNormandieAuthieEglisePortailSudTympan.jpg, Detail on the Portal File:Authie église Saint-Vigor détail voussures.JPG, A detail on the church File:Authie église Saint-Vigor voûte.JPG, The Vault in the church File:Authie église Saint-Vigor nef.JPG, The

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the church File:FranceNormandieAuthieCroixCimetiere.jpg, The Cemetery Cross

References

{{authority control Communes of Calvados (department)