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Lusignan () is a commune in the Vienne department in the
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
in western
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It lies 25 km southwest of
Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
. The inhabitants are called ''Mélusins'' and ''Mélusines''.


Geography

The town of Lusignan now has about 3,000 inhabitants. It is located on the road RN11 from
Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
to
La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...
. It is about 400 km from
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. It belongs to the Poitiers
arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...
and the Lusignan canton. Right north of the town flows the river Vonne, a tributary of the
Clain The Clain (; ) is a long river in western France, a left tributary of the river Vienne. Its source is near Hiesse, Charente. The Clain flows generally north, through the following departments and towns: *Charente * Vienne: Pressac, Vivon ...
.


History

Between the 10th and 14th centuries, the history of the town fully overlaps with that of the House of Lusignan. During the 16th century Lusignan is repeatedly involved in the
French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...
between
Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
and Catholics. The city walls were dismantled by royal orders in the 17th century.


Population


Monuments

* Château de Lusignan – historical castle of which only very scant remains are left after being long used as a quarry and then fully dismantled in the 18th century


Personalities

* House of Lusignan * Jacques Babinet – scientist * André Léo (1824–1900) (real name Léodile Béra) – female writer


Gallery

File:Notre Dame et Saint-Junien de Lusignan.jpg, Church File:Notre Dame et Saint-Junien de Lusignan detail.jpg, Church (detail) File:Lusignan web Emmanuel Dissais.jpg, Church File:Portes-de-lusignan.jpg, Fortress File:Maison du XVem.jpg, XV century house


See also

*
Communes of the Vienne department The following is a list of the 265 communes of the Vienne department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Lazanias


References


External links


Tourism office
{{authority control Communes of Vienne (department) Poitou