Saint-Benoît-du-Sault

Saint-Benoît-du-Sault (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ bənwa dy so] ^ⓘ; Occitan: Sent Benet de Saul) is a commune in the Indre department in central France.^[3]

Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
Commune
The priory of Saint-Benoît
Coat of arms
Location of Saint-Benoît-du-Sault
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault Show map of France Saint-Benoît-du-Sault Show map of Centre-Val de Loire
Coordinates: 46°26′29″N 1°23′29″E
Country	France
Region	Centre-Val de Loire
Department	Indre
Arrondissement	Le Blanc
Canton	Saint-Gaultier
Government
• Mayor (2023–2026)	Damien Barré[1]
Area 1	1.8 km2 (0.7 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	510
• Density	280/km2 (730/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	36182 /36170
Elevation	175–246 m (574–807 ft) (avg. 223 m or 732 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It is a medieval village, perched in a curve on a rocky butte overlooking the Portefeuille River in the former province of Berry. Since 1988, it has been a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association.

History

Located in the area of Gaul settled by a powerful Celtic tribe, the Bituriges, "Kings of the World" (summa penes imperii bituriges), powerful until their defeat against Julius Caesar at Bourges (Avaricum), part of Roman Aquitania.

Two dolmens (Passebonneau and des Gorces) near to Saint-Benoît-du-Sault attest to the ancientness of human presence, if not of the Bituriges. Ten centuries later, in 974, some benedictine monks of Sacierges-Saint-Martin took refuge on a granite spur, where they founded a priory: Salis, future Saint-Benoît-du-Sault. From the 10th to the 17th century, the history of the priory and the new village is made up of resistance to the possessive desires of feudal neighbours, such as the Limoges and de Brosse family. The town was surrounded by a double line of ramparts. The first, the most ancient, protected the priory, the church and the fort, the second established in the 15th century, encircled the commercial part. Its maze of narrow cobbled streets remains popular with sightseers.^[4]

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	822	—
1975	864	+0.71%
1982	836	−0.47%
1990	856	+0.30%
1999	766	−1.23%
2009	677	−1.23%
2014	617	−1.84%
2020	554	−1.78%
Source: INSEE[5]

Sights

Of architectural significance:

• Belfry.
• 14th-century portal.
• 14th-century Roman Priory. (Monuments Historiques)
• The medieval city in general.
• Castle of Brosse

• 
  14th-century portal
• 
  Medieval town

Personalities

People associated with Saint-Benoît-du-Sault:

• Hervé Faye (1814–1902), astronomer
• François-Timoléon de Choisy (1644–1724), priest and author
• Herbert Southworth (1908–1999), historian

See also

• Communes of the Indre department