Épineuil-le-Fleuriel

Épineuil-le-Fleuriel (French pronunciation: [epinœj lə flœʁjɛl]; Occitan: Espinuelh de Flurièt) is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France.

Épineuil-le-Fleuriel
Commune
St Martin's church
Location of Épineuil-le-Fleuriel
Épineuil-le-Fleuriel Épineuil-le-Fleuriel
Coordinates: 46°33′35″N 2°35′04″E
Country	France
Region	Centre-Val de Loire
Department	Cher
Arrondissement	Saint-Amand-Montrond
Canton	Châteaumeillant
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Mylène Pierrard
Area 1	41.6 km2 (16.1 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	438
• Density	11/km2 (27/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	18089 /18360
Elevation	163–260 m (535–853 ft) (avg. 183 m or 600 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

An area of lakes, streams and farming consisting of the village and several hamlets situated by the banks of both the river Cher and the canal de Berry, some 37 miles (60 km) south of Bourges at the junction of the D4, D64 and the D97 roads. The A71 autoroute runs through the western part of the territory of the commune and it shares a border with the department of Allier.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1962	633	—
1968	681	+7.6%
1975	578	−15.1%
1982	551	−4.7%
1990	478	−13.2%
1999	414	−13.4%
2008	456	+10.1%

Sights

• St Martin's church, dating from the twelfth century.
• The eighteenth-century chateau of Cornançay.
• The nineteenth-century school and museum of writer Alain-Fournier.
• A feudal motte with a moat.
• Traces of another medieval castle.
• The chateau of Fougerolles.
• Old tile works at la Bouchatte.
• A washhouse at Cornançay.

Personalities

• Alain-Fournier, writer, spent his childhood here, where his parents taught at the school. The setting of his novel, Le Grand Meaulnes, is based on the area around the village.

See also

• Communes of the Cher department