Rochefourchat

French commune
nomcommune=Rochefourchat
House of the only inhabitant of Rochefourchat
région=Rhône-Alpes
département=Drôme
arrondissement=Die
canton=La Motte-Chalancon
insee=26274
cp=26340
maire=Jeanne Isoard
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=
longitude=5.24805555556
latitude=44.5994444444
alt moy=963
alt mini=600
alt maxi=1513
hectares=273
km²=12.74
sans=1
date-sans=1999
dens=0.1
date-dens=1999

Rochefourchat is a commune in the Drôme department in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. In the commune there is a single house, a converted barn, and the ruins of an old castle. The nearest communes to Rochefourchat are Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert, Les Tonils, Pradelle and Brette.

As of the 1999 census, there was just one permanent inhabitant, a 38-year old divorced man. Therefore, it holds the record of being the least populous populated French commune.

History

In 1178, the castle of Rocha Forcha was built by the bishops of the arrondissement of Die as a stronghold against the Holy Roman Emperors. It belonged to French lords until the year 1766 when the last one, Lord Rey de Noinville, died. In 1796, a French trader, Pierre Jossaud bought the land surrounding the castle and renamed it Rochefourchat. The commune has been passed down through Jossaud's family.

References

"Based on the article in the French Wikipedia."