Blérancourt (French pronunciation: [bleʁɑ̃kuʁ]) is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

Blérancourt
Chateau
Chateau
Coat of arms of Blérancourt
Location of Blérancourt
Map
Blérancourt is located in France
Blérancourt
Blérancourt
Blérancourt is located in Hauts-de-France
Blérancourt
Blérancourt
Coordinates: 49°31′01″N 3°09′05″E / 49.5169°N 3.1514°E / 49.5169; 3.1514
CountryFrance
RegionHauts-de-France
DepartmentAisne
ArrondissementLaon
CantonVic-sur-Aisne
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Patrick Laplace[1]
Area
1
10.8 km2 (4.2 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
1,261
 • Density120/km2 (300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
02093 /02300
Elevation53–159 m (174–522 ft)
(avg. 60 m or 200 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Population

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
1962953—    
1968988+3.7%
19751,115+12.9%
19821,177+5.6%
19901,319+12.1%
19991,264−4.2%
20081,276+0.9%

Sights

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Louis Saint-Just's home in Blérancourt, which is now a museum and tourist office.

The Château de Blérancourt, an influential design by Salomon de Brosse houses the National Museum of French-American Friendship and Cooperation, (Musée franco-américain), founded by Anne Morgan, daughter of the financier J. Pierpont Morgan (due to reopen in 2007). The collections of the Museum include many works on the theme of WW1, among them several paintings of Joseph-Félix Bouchor.[3]

The corps de logis of the château no longer exists, but de Brosse's twin cubical stone pavilions and a grand entrance gateway approached by a stone bridge across a moat (now dry) survive. The pavilions have identical façades on all sides, framed in rusticated quoins at the corners: each consists of a pair of pedimented windows that make a composition with a central œil de bœuf window under a semicyclical arch that carries the dentilled cornice across and breaks into the roof balustrading above. Slate roofs with cyma curves converge to a central four-sided cap. The central gateway takes the form of a triumphal arch with a prominent keystone. The Jardins du Nouveau Monde, on its grounds, contain an arboretum and garden plants from the New World.

The house of Louis Antoine de Saint-Just now houses a museum devoted to the French Revolution.

Notable people from Blérancourt

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Franco-American Museum in Blérancourt, France