Chabanais (; oc, Chabanès) 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

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

department in southwestern

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 ...

Geography

The river

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Rochechouart impact structure Rochechouart impact structure or Rochechouart astrobleme is an impact structure in France. Erosion has over the millions of years has mostly destroyed its impact crater, the initial surface expression of the asteroid impact leaving highly deform ...

. The ancient asteroid impact crater associated with it has

eroded Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust, and then sediment transport, tra ...

away and is no longer visible. Located in the heart of the Charente, Chabanais is 42 km west of Limoges, 50 km northeast of Angoulême, 77 km north of Périgueux and 84 km southeast of Poitiers. The town is small enough to be considered a large village and it boasts an open-air market every Thursday, adding to a number of small, privately owned shops. The town has a rail station connecting with Limoges to the east and Angoulême to the west.

History

Chabanais was struck by an F2

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

on 5 May 1997. In the summer of 2018, the town centre and some surrounding hamlets were struck by a devastating hailstorm which punctured many roofs on buildings and destroyed hundreds of car windscreens and bodywork.

Geography

History

Population

See also