Tusson () is a commune 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 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 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 ...

. It is the site of four large

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 ...

tumuli, known as the Gros Dognon, the Petit Dognon, the Vieux Breuil and La Justice. Marguerite de Navarre spent time in the priory in the village, built by Robert d'Abrissel in the 12th century as an offshoot of the

Abbey of Fontevraud The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preache ...

. The village grew up subsequently around the religious establishment. Until the 1960s it used to be a centre for the trading of horses and donkeys. Nowadays it is known for its artists and craftspeople, as well as its well-preserved historical buildings, many renovated with the participation of the Club Marpen, a local heritage group.

Population

See also