Rochefourchat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Commune of Rochefourchat |
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| Location | |
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Rhône-Alpes |
| Department | Drôme |
| Arrondissement | Die |
| Canton | La Motte-Chalancon |
| Mayor | Jeanne Isoard (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 600 m–1 513 m (avg. 963 m) |
| Land area¹ | 12.74 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
1 |
| - Density | 0.1/km² (1999) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 26274/ 26340 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
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Rochefourchat is a commune of the Drôme department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the south-east of France. In the commune there is a single house, a converted barn, and the ruins of an old castle. The nearest communes to Rochefourchat are Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert, Les Tonils, Pradelle and Brette.
As of the 1999 census, there was just one inhabitant, a 38-year old divorced man. Therefore, it holds the record of being the least populous French commune.
[edit] History
In 1178, the castle of Rocha Forcha was built by the bishops of the arrondissement of Die as a stronghold against the Holy Roman Emperors. It belonged to French lords until the year 1766 when the last one, Lord Rey de Noinville, died. In 1796, a French trader, Pierre Jossaud bought the land surrounding the castle and renamed it Rochefourchat. The commune has been passed down through Jossaud's family, right down the current inhabitant, Jeanne Isoard. The famous writer Sebastien Menez was slain there in 1813.
