Guéret

Guéret
The park and the Sénatorerie Museum, in Guéret
The park and the Sénatorerie Museum, in Guéret
Coat of arms of Guéret
Location of Guéret
Map
Guéret is located in France
Guéret
Guéret
Guéret is located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Guéret
Guéret
Coordinates: 46°10′17″N 1°52′09″E / 46.1714°N 1.8692°E / 46.1714; 1.8692
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
DepartmentCreuse
ArrondissementGuéret
CantonGuéret-1 and 2
IntercommunalityCA Grand Guéret
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Marie-Françoise Fournier[1]
Area
1
26.21 km2 (10.12 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
12,840
 • Density490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
23096 /23000
Elevation350–685 m (1,148–2,247 ft)
(avg. 436 m or 1,430 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Guéret (French: [ɡeʁɛ]; Occitan: Garait) is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France.

Geography

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Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland and some farming not far from the town centre. It is approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi)[3] by road northeast of Limoges at the junction of the D942, D940 and the N145 roads.

Map of the Creuse department

History

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Guéret grew up round an abbey founded in the 7th century. In later times it became the capital of the County of La Marche.[4]

Population

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Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1968 12,849—    
1975 14,855+2.09%
1982 15,720+0.81%
1990 14,706−0.83%
1999 14,123−0.45%
2007 14,066−0.05%
2012 13,219−1.23%
2017 13,161−0.09%
Source: INSEE[5]

Sights

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  • The church of St. Pierre and St. Paul, dating from the thirteenth century.
  • The Hotel de Moneyroux (incorrectly called "Castle of the Counts of Marche", as no count ever lived in Guéret). This building, of Gothic style, was constructed in the fifteenth century by Antoine Allard (1839-1896). It is now the headquarters of the General Council of the Creuse. It can be visited during public holidays.
  • The Presidial, dating from the seventeenth century. This building houses the town hall.
  • The Museum of the Sénatorerie. Partly built in eighteenth century, the building served as the residence of senators under Napoleon. Since 1832, the Society of Archaeological and Natural Sciences of the Creuse, one of the oldest learned societies of France has been housed here. It brings together natural history collections and works of art. In 1907, the Hotel de la Sénatorerie museum was surrounded by a park and trees.[6]
  • The war memorial.
  • The seventeenth-century chateau of Sainte Feyrer, built on the foundations of a castle from the Middle Ages, of which there are some remains. The building of the eighteenth century was constructed by the architect Brousseau. It has an elegant staircase and the oratory is classified as a historical monument.
  • A vast permanent labyrinth is located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Guéret.
  • Courtille lake, a recreation area south of Guéret, is an artificial lake along a shaded path. With a circumference of about 3 km, it is used for sports and leisure (running, sailing, walking) or picnicking on the grass.
  • Chabrières forest is large and stretches south of Guéret. It includes: A zoo, where one can see wolves in semi-liberty in large enclosures. Opened in 2001, it is a noted site in the field of protection of this species. There are some huge natural monoliths, such as "la Pierre Grole" linked to local myths and legends and some old granite quarries, once used mainly for cobblestones of the streets of Paris.

Climate

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Guéret has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) influenced by its elevation and proximity to the Bay of Biscay's maritime inflow of Gulf Stream air. As a result, the climate is mild for its latitude, wet and also relatively gloomy.

Climate data for Guéret Bongeot (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1975–2017)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 18.7
(65.7)
23.0
(73.4)
24.5
(76.1)
29.6
(85.3)
31.5
(88.7)
37.0
(98.6)
38.0
(100.4)
39.1
(102.4)
33.5
(92.3)
28.5
(83.3)
25.4
(77.7)
20.5
(68.9)
39.1
(102.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7.0
(44.6)
8.3
(46.9)
11.7
(53.1)
14.4
(57.9)
18.7
(65.7)
22.1
(71.8)
24.8
(76.6)
24.6
(76.3)
20.8
(69.4)
16.5
(61.7)
10.6
(51.1)
7.5
(45.5)
15.6
(60.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) 3.7
(38.7)
4.3
(39.7)
7.1
(44.8)
9.4
(48.9)
13.3
(55.9)
16.5
(61.7)
18.8
(65.8)
18.5
(65.3)
15.1
(59.2)
11.9
(53.4)
6.9
(44.4)
4.4
(39.9)
10.9
(51.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 0.5
(32.9)
0.4
(32.7)
2.4
(36.3)
4.3
(39.7)
8.0
(46.4)
11.0
(51.8)
12.8
(55.0)
12.4
(54.3)
9.4
(48.9)
7.3
(45.1)
3.2
(37.8)
1.3
(34.3)
6.1
(43.0)
Record low °C (°F) −23.2
(−9.8)
−17.0
(1.4)
−14.7
(5.5)
−4.8
(23.4)
−2.0
(28.4)
1.0
(33.8)
4.0
(39.2)
2.0
(35.6)
−1.6
(29.1)
−8.0
(17.6)
−12.0
(10.4)
−13.6
(7.5)
−23.2
(−9.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 93.2
(3.67)
83.1
(3.27)
79.1
(3.11)
88.2
(3.47)
105.4
(4.15)
78.0
(3.07)
70.5
(2.78)
65.2
(2.57)
84.9
(3.34)
90.3
(3.56)
88.6
(3.49)
97.1
(3.82)
1,023.6
(40.30)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 13.4 11.8 11.3 11.6 12.8 9.7 8.7 8.1 9.5 11.7 12.6 12.4 133.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 79.1 97.2 137.4 138.8 177.8 169.3 219.2 242.5 183.9 122.1 82.5 63.2 1,710.7
Source 1: Meteociel[7]
Source 2: Météo Climat (sun 1987–2010)[8]

Personalities

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The wolves of Chabrières

International relations

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Guéret is twinned with: Germany Stein, Bavaria, Germany since 1991 and Puck, Poland

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 9 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Limoges to Guéret".
  4. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Guéret". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 670.
  5. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  6. ^ "museum of Sénatorerie". Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  7. ^ "Normales et records pour Gueret Bongeot (23)". Meteociel. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  8. ^ "French climate normals 1981–2010". Météo Climat. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  9. ^ Biographie de Ingres Archived 6 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Biographie de Madeleine Chapelle
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