Mérinchal

Mérinchal (French pronunciation: [meʁɛ̃ʃal]; Occitan: Mairinchal) is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France.

Mérinchal
Commune
Coat of arms
Location of Mérinchal
Mérinchal Mérinchal
Coordinates: 45°55′03″N 2°29′21″E
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Creuse
Arrondissement	Aubusson
Canton	Auzances
Intercommunality	CC Marche et Combraille en Aquitaine
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Marie-Françoise Ventenat
Area 1	45.45 km2 (17.55 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	667
• Density	15/km2 (38/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	23131 /23420
Elevation	656–784 m (2,152–2,572 ft) (avg. 735 m or 2,411 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

A large area of farming, forestry, lakes and streams comprising several villages and hamlets situated some 15 miles (24 km) east of Aubusson, at the junction of the D27, D28 and the D31 roads and also on the D941. The commune has the department of Puy-de-Dôme on its eastern border and is also the source of the river Cher. Until 2008 the commune was served by two railway stations on the now closed line from Montluçon to Eygurande–Merlines.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1962	1,175	—
1968	1,187	+1.0%
1975	1,159	−2.4%
1982	1,032	−11.0%
1990	907	−12.1%
1999	821	−9.5%
2008	745	−9.3%

Sights

• The church, dating from the twelfth century.
• The remains of a twelfth-century castle at La Mothe.
• The remains of a chateau at Villebrune.
• The seventeenth-century chateau du Vieux-Voisin.
• Chapels at Villelume, La Mothe and La Vernède

International relations

Mérinchal is twinned with Öhningen, Germany since 1984.

See also

• Communes of the Creuse department