Nogent-le-Rotrou is a French commune located in the department of Eure-et-Loir in the Center-Val de Loire region. The town of Nogent-le-Rotrou is located in the natural region of Perche extending over part of the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Orne, Loir-et-Cher, Sarthe and 'Eure. It is located in the Huisne valley, a natural communication axis that links it to Le Mans. The town is located 127 km south-west-west of Paris as the crow flies. It is also located 52 km west of Chartres, prefecture of Eure-et-Loir. To the north-west, it is 93 km from Orleans, prefecture of the Center-Val de Loire region, and to the north-east, 58 km from Le Mans, prefecture of the neighboring department of Sarthe. The town of Nogent-le-Rotrou borders the department of Orne, and is about ten kilometers from that of Sarthe.
The approx. 35 m high main building (donjon) of the Château
Saint-Jean dates from around 1040; its walls are up to 3.50 m thick.
In the 12th/13th The gate castle, which was additionally secured by
a moat (fosses), and the foundations of other unfinished side towers
were built in the 19th century. From the 15th/16th An adjoining
residential wing dates from the 19th century. The castle has been
recognized as a monument historique since 1948. It also houses a
small town museum.
Located in the city center, the Hôtel-Dieu
dates back to a late 12th-century foundation to provide for the
needs of pilgrims on pilgrimage to St. James. The complex has been
rebuilt several times and is now a spacious late baroque complex
with separate men's and women's wing from the 18th century.
The
12./13. Built in the 17th century, the Église Notre-Dame was
formerly the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu. Above the portal, which is
decorated with serrated ornaments in the late Norman style, is a
triple window in the style of a triumphal arch. The church features
a nativity scene-like group of figures depicting the birth of
Christ. The two marble figures of Duke Sully and his wife kneeling
on a cenotaph are in the octagonal burial chapel adjacent to the
apse. The church has been recognized as a monument historique since
1907.
The Saint-Hilaire church is the oldest and largest church
in the town; however, the original building from the 11th century
has been modified several times. Today's landmark is the bell tower
(clocher) built in the 16th century; the tracery of the church
windows also dates from the same period. The stucco vault of the
nave was drawn in in the 19th century. The building has been
recognized as a monument historique since 2003.
The late Gothic
Église Saint-Laurent was built in the 14th/15th century built. The
interior features a 17th-century Entombment of Christ. The church
building has been recognized as a monument historique since 1927.
The buildings of the Ancienne abbaye Saint-Denis, which already
existed in the 13th century, are also listed as historical
monuments, despite partial additions and destruction in the 18th and
19th centuries.
The imposing Maison du Bailli dates from 1542 and
is now used as a school building. It has been recognized as a
monument historique since 1926.
The city palace La Grande Maison,
built in the 16th century but partially redesigned in the 18th
century, is also under protection.
The commune of Nogent-le-Rotrou is located in the natural region of Perche extending over part of the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Orne, Loir-et-Cher, Sarthe and 'Eure. It is located in the valley of the Huisne, a natural axis of communication which connects it to Le Mans. The town is 127 km south-west-west of Paris as the crow flies. It is also located 52 km west of Chartres, prefecture of Eure-et-Loir. To the northwest, it is 93 km from Orléans, prefecture of the Centre-Val de Loire region, and to the northeast 58 km from Le Mans, prefecture of the neighboring department of Sarthe. The town of Nogent-le-Rotrou borders the department of Orne, and is about ten kilometers from that of Sarthe.
Nogent-le-Rotrou is located on a major
north-east-east-south-west-west trending fault. This fault separates two
sedimentary plateaus dating mainly from the Cretaceous and the Eocene.
Alluvial deposits occupy the bottom of the valleys.
Nogent-le-Rotrou is at the confluence of the Huisne and its tributary
the Rhône.
The Huisne
The Huisne turns at a right angle a few
kilometers before the town, turning away from its southeast orientation
to head towards Le Mans and the Sarthe to the southwest, along the
fault. These two rivers occupy the bottom of wide valleys, where the
Huisne describes numerous meanders, steepened 60 to 90 meters into the
plateau. The differences in altitude are therefore significant in the
town, from 97 meters at the exit of the Huisne to 213 meters at the top
of the hillock of Croisilles, which dominates the city to the northwest.
Part of the territory of the commune, located near the bed of the
Huisne and its tributaries, is located in a flood zone. The floods of
the Huisne can be quite significant, and the town has been flooded
several times, notably in 1930, 1966, 1993 and 1995. To limit this risk,
a flood risk prevention plan was approved in 2001, and a six meter high
dike was commissioned in Margon in 2006.
The town has been home
to a hydrological station at the Pont de Bois since 1972: the average
annual flow or module of the Huisne, observed over a period of 46 years
(from 1972 to 2018), is 6,040 m3/s, i.e. 6,040 liters per second. The
maximum instantaneous height, recorded on January 23, 1995, is 2.45 m.
The Rhone
From 1971 to 1993, Nogent-le-Rotrou benefited from a
hydrological station on the Rhône: the average annual flow or module,
observed during this 23-year period, is 0.552 m3/s, or 552 liters per
second. The maximum instantaneous height, recorded on February 12, 1988,
is 1.90 m.
Due to its location, Nogent-le-Rotrou is subject to an intermediate climate between the oceanic climate of Normandy and Maine and the degraded oceanic climate of Beauce. Precipitation is slightly lower than the national average and the thermal amplitude is low.
Railway axes
Nogent-le-Rotrou has a railway station, the
Nogent-le-Rotrou station, located on the Paris - Chartres - Le Mans
line. Since the opening of the LGV Atlantique on September 24, 1989 and
the diversion of Main Line traffic by this new route, Nogent-le-Rotrou
is only crossed by TER trains and freight trains. Since January 2013,
Nogent-le-Rotrou has been served on weekdays by 19 daily trains to
Chartres and 16 to Le Mans. Journey times are around 40 minutes for
Chartres and around 45 minutes for Le Mans.
The Line from Arrou
to Nogent-le-Rotrou linked Nogent-le-Rotrou to Châteaudun and Orléans,
but the last part of this line was downgraded in 1995.
Main
highways
Nogent-le-Rotrou was located until 1972 on national road
155, linking Orléans to Saint-Malo via Alençon and Fougères, and until
2006 on national road 23, linking Chartres (Paris) to Nantes via Le Mans
and Angers. These roads were respectively downgraded to departmental
road 955 in 1972, and to departmental road 923 by a decree of December
5, 2005. The RN 23 has in fact been supplanted by the A11 motorway since
its opening on December 19, 1975. A ring road allows vehicles in transit
not to cross the city centre.
Given the remoteness of
interchanges No. 4 and No. 5 on this motorway — located respectively 21
km and 25 km from the city center — this motorway has not made it
possible to considerably improve travel times to nearby towns. On the
other hand, it had a significant effect on travel times to more distant
destinations. The theoretical journey times by road are thus 53 minutes
to Chartres, 56 minutes to Le Mans and 1 hour 40 hours to Paris. It also
takes 35 minutes to reach Mortagne-au-Perche, 46 minutes for Châteaudun,
1 hour for Alençon and 90 minutes for Orléans by secondary roads.
Nogent-le-Rotrou is connected to other towns and villages in
Eure-et-Loir and Loiret by the Transbeauce bus network. Three bus lines
connect Nogent-le-Rotrou to Châteaudun, Orléans, La Bazoche-Gouet and
Happonvilliers. Two lines of the Cap'Orne bus network also allow
travelers from Mortagne-au-Perche, Bellême, Mamers and Alençon to
benefit from rail connections to Paris at Nogent-le-Rotrou station.
Public transport
Nogent-le-Rotrou has had an urban bus network
since 1983. The Nobus network, whose operation is delegated to the
company Transports d'Eure-et-Loir, has two vehicles and a line, operated
Monday to Saturday. The frequency is around one bus per half hour at
peak, but many stops are only served at certain times of the day.
Air transport
Nogent-le-Rotrou does not have an airport or
aerodrome. The nearest airports open to regular passenger traffic are
Orléans — Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel (129 km), Angers — Loire (139 km), and
especially the Paris-Orly airports in the Paris region ( 146 km) and
Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle (177 km).
Soft Modes
Nogent-le-Rotrou
is located on the Paris–Mont-Saint-Michel cycle route, which does not
have its own roads in the town. Many hiking, horse-riding and mountain
biking routes have Nogent-le-Rotrou as their starting point.