Bernay

Bernay may refer to:

Places in France

Communes

Other Places

People

Transport

See also

Bernay, Eure

Bernay is a commune in the west of the Eure department about 50km from Évreux in northern France. The city is in the Pays d'Ouche and the Lieuvin. On its territory run the Charentonne, a tributary of the Risle, and the Cosnier.

History

The etymological origin of Bernay indicates that it is a marshy place, which comes as no surprise since it is built at the place where the River Charentonne meets an incline ("les Monts"). The Cosnier is an important tributary of the River Charentonne.

Between 996 and 1008 the duke of Normandy, Richard II offered this area in dowry to his wife, Judith of Brittany, who built a Benedictine abbey at once. The monks used the rivers flowing through the area for industry, for example cleansing, mills, fisheries. An abbey was built and it remains a jewel of the Norman Romanesque architecture. To cover the expenses and to assure their protection, the monks yielded a part of their property in 1048.

The town's cloth industry is famous, and it has many fairs (the "Foire Fleurie" at the time of Palm Sunday is memorable), because of the diversity and the abundance of the agricultural produce of the area. Bernay holds a big market each Saturday, which takes over much of the old part of the town. The veneration of "Notre-Dame de la Couture" (13th century) is the starting-point of important pilgrimages which attract people from all Normandy; the diocesan Marian pilgrimage still takes place each Whit Monday.