Tourouvre au Perche explained

Tourouvre au Perche
Commune Status:	Commune
Arrondissement:	Mortagne-au-Perche
Canton:	Tourouvre au Perche
Insee:	61491
Postal Code:	61190
Mayor:	Franck Poirier^[1]
Term:	2020 - 2026
Intercommunality:	CC Hauts Perche
Coordinates:	48.59°N 0.652°W
Area Km2:	93.76

Tourouvre au Perche (in French pronounced as /tuʁuvʁ o pɛʁʃ/) is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Autheuil, Bivilliers, Bresolettes, Bubertré, Champs, Lignerolles, La Poterie-au-Perche, Prépotin, Randonnai and Tourouvre (the seat).^[2]

The commune is listed as a Village étape.^{[3] [4]}

Geography

Tourouvre au Perche along with the communes of Feings, Longny les Villages, Le Mage, Moutiers-au-Perche and Charencey is part of the Forets, etangs et tourbieres du Haut-Perche a Natura 2000 conservation site.^[5] The site measures 3670 hectares and is home to the following fourteen protected Flora and Fauna;^[6]

1. 1. Bullhead Brook lamprey
2. white-clawed crayfish
3. Jersey tiger
4. Marsh fritillary
5. European stag beetle
6. Northern crested newt
7. Lesser horseshoe bat
8. Greater horseshoe bat
9. Western barbastelle
10. Geoffroy's bat
11. Bechstein's bat
12. Greater mouse-eared bat
13. floating water-plantain.

Points of interest

• Les Muséales de Tourouvre: this site houses two museums - The Museum of French Emigration to Canada and The Museum of Commerce and Brands^[7]
• Réserve Naturelle Régionale de la Clairière Forestière de Bresolettes: a 780 hectare local nature reserve.^[8]

Wattway

On 22 December 2016, the world's first solar-panel road - the Wattway on the RD5 road - was inaugurated. It was covered with 2,800 square meters of electricity-generating panels. The panels are covered with a resin containing fine sheets of silicon, making them tough enough to withstand all traffic. The project cost 5m Euros. On 22 July 2019 it was reported to be a colossal failure.^[9]

National Heritage sites

The Commune has a total of 5 buildings and areas listed as a Monument historique.

• Tourouvre Church - 15th century church, added as a monument in 1991.^[10]
• Bivilliers Church - 12th century church, added as a monument in 2006.^[11]
• Saint-Evroult Church - 11th century church, added as a monument in 1965.^[12] According to legend the church was built after Hugh the Great had pillaged the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in 944, when his jesters started mocking the holy objects they were struck by lightning, and the church built on the location of this event.^[12]
• Notre-Dame Church - built in the Middle Ages, added as a monument in 1875.^[13]
• Bellegarde Manor - a 15th century manor house, added as a monument in 1978.^[14]
• La Gagnonniere - historical site that was once an inn run by Barnabé Gagnon. His 3 grandsons were recruited to help build New France, otherwise known as Quebec. Barnabé is the first recorded Gagnon ancestor.

See also

• Communes of the Orne department

Notes and References

1. Web site: Répertoire national des élus: les maires. data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022. fr.
2. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2015/12/21/INTB1600629A/jo/texte Arrêté préfectoral
3. Web site: A Tourouvre, le label village étape c'est bon pour le tourisme. 24 September 2021. actu.fr.
4. Web site: Tourouvre – Les Villages Étapes.
5. Web site: INPN - FSD Natura 2000 - FR2500106 - Forets, etangs et tourbieres du Haut-Perche - Description.
6. Web site: Forêts, étangs et tourbières du Haut-Perche. Ministère de la Transition écologique.
7. Web site: Les muséales de Tourouvre, Tourouvre, autre - infos et adresse. leparisien.fr.
8. Web site: Clairière forestière de Bresolettes | Reserves Naturelles de France. www.reserves-naturelles.org.
9. https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2019/07/22/en-normandie-le-fiasco-de-la-plus-grande-route-solaire-du-monde_5492044_3244.html
10. Web site: Eglise à Tourouvre au Perche - PA00110991. monumentum.fr.
11. Web site: Eglise à Tourouvre au Perche - PA61000051. monumentum.fr.
12. Web site: Eglise à Tourouvre au Perche - PA00110768. monumentum.fr.
13. Web site: Eglise Notre-Dame à Tourouvre au Perche - PA00110735. monumentum.fr.
14. Web site: Manoir de Bellegarde à Tourouvre au Perche - PA00110962. monumentum.fr.