- Saint-Maurin
Saint-Maurin is a
village and commune of theLot-et-Garonne department of south-westernFrance . It lies on the road fromAgen toBourg-de-Visa in the valley of the Séoune. It is in the arrondissement ofAgen and the province ofAquitaine The mayor is Philippe Ollier, elected in 2008 to replace André Gayral, who retired. The population is around 450.History
St-Maurin, the only village in France of that name, is named after the saint to which the village's 11th-century abbey is dedicated. The abbey, parts of which still stand beside the village square, was built by Benedictine monks. Reliefs cut into the stone of an archway portray Maurin having the top of his head cut off and his brain spooned out.
The abbey was destroyed by the
Albigeois war, then rebuilt. It was again ravaged in the 14th century, this time by troops on the English side in theHundred Years War . It was again rebuilt in the 15th century but was then attacked once more byHuguenot s.The abbey passed into the ownership of the village in
1645 and was never rebuilt. Many of the walls were demolished as a source of building stone but much of the main arch still stands. The monks' garden exists and so do the stables, now houses. The abbey is now a Monument de France and is being restored.The village
The village lies largely to one side of the main road, although the church is on the other. It has a large square with an 18th-century open-sided market hall and a well. A bar-restaurant, a post office and the town hall stand in the square. The village has a school, a shop and several small enterprises including a plumber. On the village outskirts are a football ground and a swimming pool.
Beneath and beside the town hall is a museum of artefacts from the village's agricultural past.
External links
* [http://www.ign.fr/affiche_rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1087&CommuneId=44307 Saint-Maurin on the site of the Institut géographique national]
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