Langon (; br, Landegon;

Gallo Gallo may refer to: *Related to Gaul: ** Gallo-Roman culture **Gallo language, a regional language of France **Gallo-Romance, a branch of Romance languages **Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian language, a branch spoken in Northern Italy of the Romance ...

: ''Langon'') 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

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

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, ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

in northwestern

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

Langon is in the region of Brittany, close to the border with the

Pays de Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

region. It is located from

Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of th ...

, from

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

(the capital of Brittany), and from

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

and

Saint Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the ...

. The

Vilaine The Vilaine (; br, Gwilen) is a river in Brittany, in the west of France. The river's source is in the Mayenne ''département'' (53), and it flows out into the Atlantic Ocean at Pénestin in the Morbihan ''département'' (56). It is 218 km ...

river, which flows through Vitré and

, borders the territory of Langon over a distance of 14 km, then flows on into the

Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Langon has one of the best preserved pastoral countrysides in all of Brittany.

History

The earliest traces of human activity on the territory of present-day Langon date back to around 10,000 BCE, in the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

era. By the end of the 19th century, 35 megalithic groupings had been discovered, many of which have since been razed. The city's Roman heritage is evidenced in the Chapelle Ste Agathe, the villa de Balac, and a stretch of paved road. The first Christian communities established themselves in the area starting at the end of the 5th century. The town was built around the chapel. Starting in the 9th century, the history of the village becomes intertwined with that of the

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

. It is in the records of this Abbey that the name of the parish is written using various Latin spellings ("Langedon", "Langeco", "Lanco", and "Lancon"). Langon found itself at the very edge of Brittany, when the

river became the border between the Breton territory and the French territory. In the 19th century, the arrival of the railroad through town brought a dynamic economic development and prosperity that had never been experienced. It was during this time that the village took on the look and feel that persists in much of the town to this day. World War II brought an abrupt end to this development.

Population

Inhabitants of Langon are called ''Langonnais'' in French.

Sights

Langon is distinctive because of its archeological heritage. Many different eras of history are represented in the surrounding area: the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

with the town's

megaliths A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

, the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

with the Chapelle de Sainte Agathe and a segment of a Roman road in the town, the

Modern Era The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

with its numerous mansions, the Corbinières

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

and, 2 kilometres to the north, the Porte de la Roche (a monument commemorating the villagers shot by the retreating German army near the end of World War II). The chapelle Sainte-Agathe, with a history of 18 centuries, is famous for the Roman paintings on the inside. It was originally built as a Gallo-Roman spa at the end of the 2nd century, then converted to a church in the Middle Ages (6th-7th centuries). It was used as a funerary chapel in the 10th century. To this day, a Roman fresco depicting Venus emerging from the water and surrounded by all sorts of fish has survived.R. Royer, "Un monument gallo-romain en Armorique, la chappelle de Langon," ''Archaeologia, tresors des ages'' 1981, no. 157: 16-21. There are a number of megaliths in Langon and in the surrounding area (particularly in the neighboring town of t. Just. One such arrangement has been named the "Demoiselles de Langon", or the "Damsels of Langon". The arrangement consists of around 20 stones, averaging around 1 metre (3 ft) in height. The Corbinieres viaduct spans the

river. More than 30 metres high, it links Langon to Messac. It was completed in 1861. The viaduct has distinctive skewed arches. For this reason, it is considered to be one of the most attractive viaducts in France. In addition, its pillars house an important bat colony.

Bibliography

* Cyrille Chaigneau, Kristell Chuniaud, ''La chapelle Sainte-Agathe de Langon, étude de bâti'', Université François Rabelais de Tours, maîtrise "archéologie préventive", 1994, ( Archives d'I&V - Mémoire 2 J 665). *R. Royer, "Un monument gallo-romain en Armorique, la chappelle de Langon," ''Archaeologia, tresors des ages'' 1981, no. 157: 16-21. * Nicole Rocher, ''Vestiges d'un lointain passé, à Langon en Ille-et-Vilaine'', mémoire de C.P.R. de Rennes, 1967, manuscrit calligraphié, illustré, 55 pages, ( Archives d'I&V - 2 J 1028). * Fernand Daucé, ''Historique des recherches sur le monument funéraire gallo-romain de Langon'', Annales de Bretagne, n° 68, 1, 1961, pp 115–146.

References

External links

Village website (French)

Cultural Heritage

{{authority control Communes of Ille-et-Vilaine