Last modified: 2024-04-06 by olivier touzeau
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Flag of Carignan-de-Bordeaux - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2022
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Carignan-de-Bordeaux (4,237 inhabitants in 2021; 878 ha) is a commune in the Gironde department.
The name "Carinhan" comes from Carinus, Roman emperor from 284 to 285.
The Romans settled on these lands, built buildings on the sites of Soney, Roqueys, Cabirac, where there are vestiges of this period.
In the 5th century, the Visigoths invaded the region. At the beginning of the 6th century it passed under the domination of Clovis. In the meantime, Christianity spread, and around the 11th and 12th centuries, rural parishes multiplied and Carignan became “Parrochia de Sant Martinus de Carnaho”.
In 1137 Aliénor became the heiress of the Duchy of Aquitaine on the death of her brother Guillaume Aigret, who himself had received it on the death of his father Guillaume X. Aliénor died in 1204 after 67 years of reign.
At that time, Carignan was divided into three jurisdictions:
- the northwestern part of the town in the small provostship of Entre-deux-Mers
- the north-eastern part in the large provostship
- the southern part in the "captalat" of Latresne
A little village until the mid-20th century, In about forty years, the population of Carignan-de-Bordeaux has increased from 1,200 inhabitants to almost 3,400 in 2007. Like the neighboring towns, this increase in population began in the early 1960s and intensified in the 1970s.
Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2022
The arms of Carignan-de-Bordeaux are blazoned:
Quarterly, 1. Or an oak on a terrace all Vert, acorned Or, a chief Gules a leopard pf the field; 2. Azure three bunches of grape Argent stlaked and leaved Vert, surmounting a mounts of three hillocks of the same issuant from the sides ona river Or, and surmounted by a sun of the same issuant from the chief, 3. Azure the portal of the Saint Martin church Argenton a terrace of the same, 4. Gules the castle of Carignan Argent on a terrace of the same, sumounted in dexter chief by wolf's head eradicated Or howling.
Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2022
The St. Martin church was first erected in the early 13th century. The remains from the original building are the southern and northern (now inside) walls and the lower part of the bell tower decorated with modillions.
In the 16th century, the flat bell tower was replaced by a spire, deemed the highest in the Entre-Deux-Mers region. The building was increased with the addition of a lateral alley in the north and of a polygonal choir. Two heads, maybe representing the church's patrons, were added to the entrance gate. The loopholes were probably pierced at the time, when the region was scoured by the Wars of Religion.
On 10 August 1759, an earthquake damaged the church, whose access would be forbidden until 1764; in the meantime, masses were celebrated in a barn customized as a sanctuary. During the restoration, the ground floor was raised and the steps heading down to the church were suppressed; the nave was revamped and added abutments.
In 1791, the spire was struck and partially destroyed by lightning, which explains its unusual shape. [source: Municipal website]
Castle Carignan is located in front of the church across a small brook tributary of river Pimpine. The first local lords built the castle on a small hill overlooking the valley, some hundreds meters northern of the present-day's castle. In the 15th century, lord Raymond de Canteloup, owner of the castle, then called Talence, and, subsequently, Motte-Verte, and of castle Canteloup in the same village, had to repair another of his domains, ruined castle Camarsac, where he intended to live. To get funds, he engaged castle Carignan, the "noble manor Talance with a tower and surrounded by walls", on 13 January 1418 to Bernard Dailhan. At the end of the Hundred Years' War, king Charles VII confiscated the castle from Raymond de Canteloup as a retaliation for his support to the English party. The castle was offered to Jean Poton de Xaintrailles (1390-1461), a valiant brother in arms of Joan of Arc.
Acquired in 1814 by the Marquess of Casapalacio, the castle was fully revamped. In 1892, it was purchased by Honoré Picon, the son of Gaëtan Picon (1809-1882), the inventor of the Amer Picon aperitif drink, and took its definitive name of Carignan. [source: Municipal website]
The Château Carignan estate (65 ha) produces wines under the designation of Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux (Entre-deux-Mers). [source: Corporate website]
Ivan Sache, 29 April 2022
The flag of Carignan-de-Bordeaux, observed in 2014 during twinning ceremonies with Carignan (Ardennes) is white with the coat of arms and the name of the commune, and the French Republic's motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité above: photo (2014).
Olivier Touzeau, 28 April 2022