Blérancourt
Commune in Hauts-de-France, France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blérancourt (French pronunciation: [bleʁɑ̃kuʁ]) is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Blérancourt | |
|---|---|
 Chateau | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Blérancourt | |
  Blérancourt Location within France  Blérancourt Location within Hauts-de-France | |
| Coordinates: 49°31′01″N 3°09′05″E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Hauts-de-France |
| Department | Aisne |
| Arrondissement | Laon |
| Canton | Vic-sur-Aisne |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Patrick Laplace[1] |
Area 1 | 10.8 km2 (4.2 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 1,162 |
| • Density | 108/km2 (279/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 02093 /02300 |
| Elevation | 53–159 m (174–522 ft) (avg. 60 m or 200 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Population
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 988 | — |
| 1975 | 1,115 | +1.74% |
| 1982 | 1,177 | +0.78% |
| 1990 | 1,270 | +0.96% |
| 1999 | 1,193 | −0.69% |
| 2007 | 1,260 | +0.69% |
| 2012 | 1,229 | −0.50% |
| 2017 | 1,290 | +0.97% |
| 2023 | 1,162 | −1.73% |
| Source: INSEE[3] | ||
Sights
The Château de Blérancourt, an influential design by Salomon de Brosse houses the National Museum of French-American Friendship and Cooperation, (Musée franco-américain), founded by Anne Morgan, daughter of the financier J. Pierpont Morgan. The collections of the Museum include many works on the theme of World War I, among them several paintings of Joseph-Félix Bouchor.[4] It was reopened after renovation in 2017.[5]
The corps de logis of the château no longer exists, but de Brosse's twin cubical stone pavilions and a grand entrance gateway approached by a stone bridge across a moat (now dry) survive. The pavilions have identical façades on all sides, framed in rusticated quoins at the corners: each consists of a pair of pedimented windows that make a composition with a central œil de bœuf window under a semicyclical arch that carries the dentilled cornice across and breaks into the roof balustrading above. Slate roofs with cyma curves converge to a central four-sided cap. The central gateway takes the form of a triumphal arch with a prominent keystone. The Jardins du Nouveau Monde, on its grounds, contain an arboretum and garden plants from the New World.
The house of Louis Antoine de Saint-Just now houses a museum devoted to the French Revolution.
Notable people from Blérancourt
- Claude-Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768) anatomist and surgeon.
- Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (1767-1794) revolutionary and author.
