Avant-lès-Marcilly

Avant-lès-Marcilly
Commune
The Socio-cultural Hall
Location of Avant-lès-Marcilly
Avant-lès-Marcilly Show map of France Avant-lès-Marcilly Show map of Grand Est
Coordinates: 48°25′25″N 3°34′15″E
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Aube
Arrondissement	Nogent-sur-Seine
Canton	Saint-Lyé
Intercommunality	CC Orvin Ardusson
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Michel Dalle[1]
Area ^1	27.62 km^2 (10.66 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	513
• Density	19/km^2 (48/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	10020 /10400
Elevation	110 m (360 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Avant-lès-Marcilly (French pronunciation: [avɑ̃ le maʁsiji], literally Avant near Marcilly) is a commune in the Aube department in the Grand Est region of north-central France.

Geography

Avant-lès-Marcilly is located some 40 km north-west of Troyes and 32 km south-east of Provins. Access to the commune is by road D54 from Nogent-sur-Seine in the north-west which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues south-east to Marcilly-le-Hayer. The D52 come from Soligny-les-Étangs in the west and passes through the village continuing to Ferreux-Quincey in the north-east. The D23 branches from the D54 in the south of the commune and goes to Saint-Lupien in the south-east. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Les Ormeaux, Le Mesnil, and Tremblay. There are some forests in the east of the commune but the rest is farmland.^[3]

The Ru du Gué de l'Éspine rises near the village and flows west to join the Orvin at Soligny-les-Etangs.^[3]

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

The origins of the commune can be dated back to about the time of construction of the church in the 12th and 13th centuries. There are also gravestones with the oldest dating to the 13th century. This fief belonged to Angenoust at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century and was under Nogent-sur-Seine.

Many older historic remains are still visible in the area such as menhirs (the Marguerite Stone and the Pierre-au-Coq) and dolmens (next to Les Ormeaux).

Administration

List of Successive Mayors^[4]

From	To	Name
1900	1904	Stanislas Banry
1904	1908	Aristide Benoit
1908	1919	Jules Bellemere
1919	1935	Aristide Benoit
1935	1941	Emile Boulanger
1941	1965	Jean Bosuat
1965	1971	Clauzel Collot
1971	1977	Jean-Paul Godier
1977	1995	Bernard Dalle
1995	2008	Jean-Paul Renard
2008	2014	Jean-Louis Marcilly
2014	2020	Chantal Frou
2020	2026	Michel Dalle

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Avants or Avantes in French.^[5]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 503 —     1800 542 +1.07% 1806 526 −0.50% 1821 491 −0.46% 1831 477 −0.29% 1836 555 +3.08% 1841 552 −0.11% 1846 569 +0.61% 1851 591 +0.76% 1856 593 +0.07% 1861 574 −0.65% 1866 596 +0.76% 1872 571 −0.71% 1876 542 −1.29% 1881 550 +0.29% 1886 541 −0.33% 1891 550 +0.33% 1896 491 −2.24%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 453 −1.60% 1906 471 +0.78% 1911 462 −0.39% 1921 390 −1.68% 1926 411 +1.05% 1931 404 −0.34% 1936 424 +0.97% 1946 374 −1.25% 1954 383 +0.30% 1962 361 −0.74% 1968 340 −0.99% 1975 318 −0.95% 1982 336 +0.79% 1990 375 +1.38% 1999 432 +1.58% 2007 476 +1.22% 2012 504 +1.15% 2017 508 +0.16%
Source: EHESS[6] and INSEE[7]

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has one site that is registered as an historical monument:

• A Menhir called the Pierre-au-Coq (Neolithic)^[8]

Other points of interest

• The Marguerite Stone
• The Grooves of Côte des Ormeaux
• The Commonwealth War Cemetery

Religious heritage

The Church of the Assumption. Avant-lès-Marcilly was a former seat for a priest under the conferment of the Bishop of Troyes. The church is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. It is sandstone and was started on the western side in the 12th century. The bell tower and the west portal are novel. The Romanesque nave was rebuilt in the 18th century. The eastern part of the church is early gothic.^[9]

The Church contains many items that are registered as historical objects:

• The Tombstone of François de Palluet (17th century)^[10]
• The Tombstone of a lady of Angenoust (1567)^[11]
• The Tombstone of an Abbot (13th century)^[12]
• The Seat of Héloïse (17th century)^[13]
• A Statue: Saint Vincent (16th century)^[14]
• A Secondary Altar and Retable on the south side (19th century)^[15]
• A Secondary Altar and Retable (19th century)^[16]
• An Ampule for holy oil (19th century)^[17]
• 2 Statuettes: Angels holding a crown (19th century)^[18]
• A Paten (19th century)^[19]
• A Paten (19th century)^[20]
• A Chalice (19th century)^[21]
• A Chalice (18th century)^[22]
• A Chalice (1882)^[23]
• A Cope (19th century)^[24]
• A Cope (19th century)^[25]
• A Cope (19th century)^[26]
• A Processional Banner (1895)^[27]
• A Processional Banner: Notre-Dame d'Avant (20th century)^[28]
• A Statue: Christ on the Cross (17th century)^[29]
• A Tombstone (1539)^[30]
• Baptismal fonts (19th century)^[31]
• A Processional Staff (17th century)^[32]
• A Processional Staff: Saint Eloi (17th century)^[33]
• A Processional Staff: Saint Anne and the Virgin (17th century)^[34]
• An Altar Painting: Saint Bishop (19th century)^[35]
• An Altar Painting: Pursuit of Saint Hubert (19th century)^[36]

Picture Gallery

• 
  The Church of Avant-lès-Marcilly.
• 
  The Church of Avant-lès-Marcilly.
• 
  The Megalithic enclosure in the Avant-lès-Marcilly cemetery.
• 
  Plaque in gratitude to the inhabitants of Avant-lès-Marcilly.
• 
  Commonwealth War Graves sign.
• 
  The military square in Avant-lès-Marcilly.
• 
  The tomb of Sergeant Turnbull in the Commonwealth War Cemetery.
• 
  The tomb of Sergeant Turnbull's wife (died 2005).

Notable people linked to the commune

• Jean Grosjean,^[37] man of letters.

See also

• Communes of the Aube department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Google Maps
4. Commune website (in French)
5. Le nom des habitants du 10 - Aube, habitants.fr
6. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Avant-lès-Marcilly, EHESS (in French).
7. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00078022 Menhir (in French)
9. Marguerite Beau: Essay on the religious architecture of southern Champagne in Aube excluding Troyes, 1991 (in French)
10. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM10000092 Tombstone of François de Palluet (in French)
11. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM10000091 Tombstone of a lady of Angenoust (in French)
12. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM10000090 Tombstone of an Abbot (in French)
13. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM10000089 Seat of Héloïse (in French)
14. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM10000088 Statue: Saint Vincent (in French)
15. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005800 Secondary Altar and Retable (in French)
16. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005798 Secondary Altar and Retable (in French)
17. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005814 Ampule for holy oil (in French)
18. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005813 2 Statuettes: Angels holding a crown (in French)
19. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005812 Paten (in French)
20. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005811 Paten (in French)
21. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005810 Chalice (in French)
22. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005809 Chalice (in French)
23. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005808 Chalice (in French)
24. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005807 Cope (in French)
25. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005806 Cope (in French)
26. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005805 Cope (in French)
27. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005804 Processional Banner (in French)
28. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005803 Processional Banner: Notre-Dame d'Avant (in French)
29. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005802 Statue: Christ on the Cross (in French)
30. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005797 Tombstone (in French)
31. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005796 Baptismal Fonts (in French)
32. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005651 Processional Staff (in French)
33. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005650 Processional Staff: Saint Eloi (in French)
34. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005649 Processional Staff: Saint Ann and the Virgin (in French)
35. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005801 Altar Painting: Saint Bishop (in French)
36. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM10005799 Altar Painting: Pursuit of Saint Hubert (in French)
37. Aube: a man, a place, Valérie Alanièce and Jean-Michel Van Houtte, L'est-éclair. ISBN 9782907894425 (in French)

External links

• Avant-lès-Marcilly official website^{[permanent dead link‍]} (in French)
• Avant-lès-Marcilly on the old IGN website (in French)
• Ceremonies on 14 July 2013 for Jean-Louis Marcilly, Mayor of the village from 2008 to 2014 (born in 1947 and died on 30 March 2014) (in French)
• Avant-lès-Marcilly on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Avant on the 1750 Cassini Map