This is Tesson !!!

Posted in France

The village of Tesson is small and quant a wonderful history, and just plain beautiful passing by on my road warrior trails of my belle France and briefly got into it. The village of Tesson is located in the Charente-Maritime department no, 17 in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of my belle France. Therefore, this is my take on this is Tesson !!!  Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The village of Tesson is 17 km from Cognac, 14 km from Saintes, 78 km from Angoulême, 88 km from La Rochelle, 481 km from Versailles, and 381 km from my current home, We came here on the N165, A83 pass Nantes, take the A10 dir Saintes, on exit:sortie 35 take the D137 dir Pons but get off on the D6 dir Thénac to Tesson.

Illustrating the transition between Romanesque and Gothic art in Saintonge, the current Church Saint-Grégoire was built mainly during the second half of the 12C. It is dedicated to Saint Gregory, in this case Gregory I, known as the Great, as attested by a 1085 charter from the Abbey of Saint Florent near Saumur. The old bell tower, which was located above the transept crossing, was demolished in 1883. It was replaced at the end of the 19C by a new bell tower, placed to the north of the nave. The bronze bell is believed to date from 1583.

The façade on the west side features a semicircular portal framed by two blind arches. The five arches of the portal are decorated with diamond points. At the two corners of the pediment, in high relief, two strange sculptures represent the attack of a pilgrim of Santiago de Compostela with, on the left, a pilgrim and, on the right, a brigand armed with an axe.

Other things to see here with more time are next to the above church, on the site of the entrance to the old cemetery, stands a 15C hosanna cross. Hosanna crosses were used in particular on Palm Sunday, when a procession commemorated Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. The existing market hall or halle is in the form of a covered passageway connecting the main road to the place de l’Église or Church Square. It has most often been considered the original market hall buitl in 1773. Remains of this hospice, closed and abandoned during the French revolution, became the buildings to the south of the Halle at 24 Avenue Saint-Grégoire. They are separated from this avenue by a small adjoining garden. Built in 1777 at the end of the driveway leading to the castle, this hospice was a charity house built by the Marquis Étienne Guinot de Monconseil for the poor sick of his four parishes. At the place called “le château” in the village, there is no longer a castle proper but many traces of it remain. In fact, two castles preceded the two-story bourgeois residence on this site, built around 1920, located in the axis of the tree-lined driveway which connects it to the village church.

A bit of history I like tell us that the village is located on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. At the beginning of the 16C, the lordship of Tesson belonged to the Gombaud family, then passed to the Brémond family and then to the Guinot family. Tesson became famous in the 18C when Étienne Guinot,in 1729, Lieutenant General of the King’s armies in 1748. Marquis Étienne Louis Antoine Guinot de Monconseil, Lord of Tesson, as well as Thénac, Courcoury and Rioux, was one of the most illustrious Saintongeais (old area of France) of the 18C, retired to his lands in 1760 after a successful military career. He (re)built one of the most beautiful castles in the Saintonge region, demolished in the 19C, and had covered markets built in the town, still visible today, so that Tesson could host fairs and markets, as well as a hospice. Tesson benefited in the 19C from the development of the production of Cognac eaux-de-vie, particularly under the Second Empire (Napoléon III). Several beautiful manor houses in the village and outlying farms date from this century. In 1938 the village was included in the production area of ​​the so-called Fins Bois vintage of the region demarcated for the production of cognac, by the decree of January 13, 1938 which ratified the areas of the six cognac vintages based on the characteristics of the soils, which marks a comparative advantage for Tesson compared to neighboring villages further west or further south which are only in the Bons Bois area.

The Village of Tesson on its heritage: https://www.mairie-tesson.fr/le-patrimoine-de-tesson/

There you go folks, another wonder in my belle France indeed. It was a long road warrior trip and glad we stop by in Tesson, a small nice village of the thousands we have to enjoy them fully! Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Tesson !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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