Conches-en-Ouche (, literally ''Conches in

Ouche The Ouche () is a river in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Saône, which it joins in Échenon. It is long. Its source is in Lusigny-sur-Ouche. The Ouche flows through the towns of Bligny-sur-Ouche, La ...

'') 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

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' in northern

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

It is located by the Rouloir river, southwest of

Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. Geography The city is on the Iton river. Climate History In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century CE, was named ...

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 ...

. The town is located on a plateau known as the

Pays d'Ouche The Pays d'Ouche (, literally ''Land of Ouche'') is an historical and geographical region in Normandy. It extends from the southwest of Évreux up to Bernay, Eure, Bernay and Beaumont-le-Roger as a northern limit, and down to L'Aigle and to Gacé i ...

Population

Sights and monuments

Château de Conches-en-Ouche The Château de Conches-en-Ouche is a ruined castle in the ''commune'' of Conches-en-Ouche in the Eure department of France, demolished in the 16th century. History The start of construction dates back to 1034 and Roger I of Tosny. The castl ...

, ruins of 11th-century castle * L'église Sainte-Foy * Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Châtillon-lès-Conches * Arboretum * Folk museum

Personalities linked to the commune

Guillaume de Conches William of Conches (c. 1090/1091 – c. 1155/1170s) was a French scholastic philosopher who sought to expand the bounds of Christian humanism by studying secular works of the classics and fostering empirical science. He was a prominent memb ...

, medieval grammarian,

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

linked to the

School of Chartres During the High Middle Ages, the Chartres Cathedral established the cathedral School of Chartres, an important center of French scholarship located in Chartres. It developed and reached its apex during the transitional period of the 11th and 12th ...

. * Diderot set an episode of ''

Jacques le fataliste et son maître ''Jacques the Fatalist and his Master'' (french: Jacques le fataliste et son maître) is a novel by Denis Diderot, written during the period 1765–1780. The first French edition was published posthumously in 1796, but it was known earlier in Germ ...

'' (1773/1775) in Conches. *

Victor-Amédée Barbié du Bocage Victor-Amédée Barbié du Bocage (28 January 1832 – 11 October 1890) was a French geographer. 1832 births 1890 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur French geographers Scientists from Paris {{France-scientist-stub ...

(1832–1890), renowned geographer and essayist, died in the Château de Quenet on 11 October 1890. *

Paul Collin Paul Collin (12 July 1843 – 5 February 1915) was a French poet, writer, translator and librettist. Life and career Collin was born in Conches-en-Ouche. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, his family produced administrative officers in the mili ...

(1843–1915), writer and librettist, was born here. *

François Décorchemont François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

(1880–1971), master glassmaker who made the windows of numerous churches in the Eure and the Church of Sainte-Odile in Paris was born and died in Conches. *

Alfred Recours Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

, mayor of the town since 1984 and a former deputy for l'Eure.
Roger de Tosny I
medieval knight known as the Moor Eater

International relations

Conches-en-Ouche is twinned with: *

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

, Greece *

Człuchów Człuchów (, ''Człochòwo'', or ''Człëchòwò''; formerly ) is a town in the region of Gdańsk Pomerania, northwestern Poland, with 13,350 inhabitants as of December 2021. Człuchów has been the capital of Człuchów County in the Pomerani ...

, Poland * Wareham, United Kingdom *

Aulendorf Aulendorf () is a town in the district of Ravensburg, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated southwest of Biberach an der Riß, and north of Ravensburg. Aulendorf exists of the town itself along with the incorporated villages Tannha ...

, Germany

References