Cerisy-Belle-Étoile

Commune in Normandy, France

(2020–2026) Hervé Borderie^[1]Area13.40 km² (5.17 sq mi)Population709 • Density53/km² (140/sq mi)DemonymCeriséens ou EstoliensTime zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal codeElevation102–256 m (335–840 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Cerisy-Belle-Étoile is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.

Geography

The commune is part of the area known as Norman Switzerland.^[3]

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets: La Monnerie, La Perrière, La Morlandière, La Vallerie, La Jehannière, Les Haies, Les Loges, La Gaumonnière, L'Abbaye de Belle Étoile, La Hagrie, Épivent, Visance and Cerisy-Belle-Étoile.^[4]

The commune is traversed by the Noireau and Visance rivers, as well as the Fontaines stream.

Notable buildings and places

• The communal forest of Cerisy-Belle-Etoile is a 90 hectare forest open to the public.^[5]

National heritage sites

• The former Abbey of Belle-Etoile is a thirteenth century former abbey established after the conquest of Normandy by Philip II of France. It was made a Monument historique in 1926.^[6]

• 
  Noireau River in Cerisy-Belle-Étoile
• 
  Le Bourg in Cerisy-Belle-Etoile
• 
  Abbaye de Belle-Étoile

People linked with the commune

• Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont (1679 – 1734), a French explorer who documented his travels across North America was born here, and later buried here.^[7][8]

See also

• Communes of the Orne department

References