Saint-Doulchard () 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 Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire

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 an ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is on the outskirts of Bourges.

History

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

times, it was named Ampeliacum, which literally means "the vineyard hillsides", where they grew grapes. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, it was home to Dulcardus, a hermit monk who gave his name to the place - St. Doulchard, by then just a village with a small church and bell tower. With the introduction of railways in the nineteenth century and the Michelin tyre factory in 1950, the commune has grown, attracting businesses, jobs and an ever increasing population.

Geography

An area of both

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and

light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

comprising a small suburban town and several hamlets situated along the banks of the Yèvre and the

canal de Berry The Canal de Berry is a disused canal in France which links the Canal latéral à la Loire at Marseilles-lès-Aubigny with the Cher at Noyers rejoining the Loire near Tours. With a branch from Montluçon it provided of canal with locks wide f ...

, immediately to the west of Bourges at the junction of the D104 with the D60 and the N76 with the D400 road.

Population

Sights

* The church, dating from the eleventh century. * The chateau of Varye, built in 1870, and its park. * The fifteenth-century

manorhouse A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals wi ...

and

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

at Ouzy.

Personalities

* Philippe-Ernest Legrand, French

Hellenist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

was born here in 1866. *

Bernard Diomède Bernard Nicolas Thierry Diomède (born 23 January 1974) is a French football manager and former professional player. He was most recently the manager of the France U20s. He played as a winger and won the World Cup with France in 1998. Early l ...

, French

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

was born here in 1974. *

William Bonnet William Bonnet (born 25 June 1982) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . In the 2015 Tour de France, Bonnet crashed at full speed on stage 3 near Huy in Belgium after clipping wheels of a rider in fr ...

, French

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

was born here in 1982. * Loïc Jacquet, French

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player was born here in 1985. * Morgan Sanson, French footballer was born here in 1994.

International relations

Saint-Doulchard is twinned with: *

Darłowo Darłowo (Polish pronunciation: ; ; ), in full The Royal City of Darłowo ( pl, Królewskie Miasto Darłowo), is a seaside town in the West Pomeranian Region, at the south coast of the Baltic Sea, north-western Poland, with 13,324 inhabitants as ...