Mérinchal

Mérinchal
Coat of arms of Mérinchal Coat of arms
Mérinchal
Location within Limousin region Mérinchal
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Creuse
Arrondissement	Aubusson
Canton	Crocq
Intercommunality	Haut Pays Marchois
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Marie-Françoise Ventenat
Area1	45.45 km2 (17.55 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	745
• Density	16/km2 (42/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	23131 / 23420
Elevation	656–784 m (2,152–2,572 ft) (avg. 735 m or 2,411 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Mérinchal is a commune in the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.

Geography

A large area of farming, forestry, lakes and streams comprising several villages and hamlets situated some 15 miles (24 km) east of Aubusson, at the junction of the D27, D28 and the D31 roads and also on the D941.
The commune has the department of Puy-de-Dôme on its eastern border and is also the source of the Cher River. A TER railway service connects the commune with Montlucon, at the station in the hamlet of Léstrade.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	1,175	—
1968	1,187	+1.0%
1975	1,159	−2.4%
1982	1,032	−11.0%
1990	907	−12.1%
1999	821	−9.5%
2008	745	−9.3%

Sights

• The church, dating from the twelfth century.
• The remains of a twelfth-century castle at La Mothe.
• The remains of a chateau at Villebrune.
• The seventeenth-century chateau du Vieux-Voisin.
• Chapels at Villelume, La Mothe and La Vernède

International relations

Mérinchal is twinned with: Öhningen, Germany since 1984.

See also

• Communes of the Creuse department
• Creuse

References

• INSEE

External links

• Mérinchal on the Quid website (French)