Saint-Medard-in Eyrans

Origin of the Name

The bishop Holy Medard, administrator of this Diocese.

Various name into various periods

St Medard in country of Arruan (S: MEDARDI: IN: ARRUANO)

" In Arruano" >veut to say " in Arruan" , Arruan is thus another C-W communication of Eyrans. (The names of city, is fixed only as from the XVIIe-XVIIIe century)

Mountain of Eyrans: Parochial sources on December 15th, 1793, the municipality disavows publicly its owner, the bishop of Boundary-line " Médard" saint; and the name of Mountain of Eyrans adopts.

Heraldic

Weapons of saint Medard d' Eyrans (With the door of the Church)

Writing = S: MEDARDI: IN: ARRUANO: ECCLESIAE: BURDIGALENSIS: SIGILLUM:

Translation: " Seal of (the city of) St Medard in country of Arruan, pertaining to the Church (= the Diocese) of Bordeaux) "

1st district (in top on the left): The weapons of Godefroy de Bouillon: St Medard d' Eyrans was a stage of the Pèlerinage of Jerusalem.

2nd district (in top on the right): Reference to the bishop Holy Medard.

3rd district (in bottom on the left): The stick (or bumblebee) of the pilgrim. Two Scallop: Allusion to the Pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques-of-Compostelle, Saint Medard d' Eyrans was a crossing point.

4th district (in bottom on the right): The sphere: Image of Christendom dominating the world.

Weapons of saint Medard d' Eyrans (In the booklets of the town hall)

1st district (in top on the left): The weapons of Godefroy de Bouillon: St Medard d' Eyrans was a stage of the Pèlerinage of Jerusalem.

2nd district (in top on the right): Reference to the bishop Holy Medard.

The Bee: Saint Medard was known miraculeusement to cure punctures of bees and wasps. The episcopal stick: Badge of the bishop. The sphere: Image of Christendom dominating the world.

The Flowers of lily: The Flowers of lily represent the weapons of the Kings de France

3rd district (in bottom on the left): The stick (or bumblebee) of the pilgrim and his gourd.

The Scallop: Allusion to the Pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques-of-Compostelle, Saint Medard d' Eyrans was a crossing point.

The Frog S: Probable reference to the zone Of the woodlands wet.

4th district (in bottom on the right): The Viticulture is a major point of our territory.

On the chief:

Dextral Chief with (left side): Crown Marquis due to the family of Raymond marquis de Sallegourde.

Sinistral Chief with (right-sided): Crown Baron due to the family of Bernet Baron d' Eyrans.

Iris of the marshes: reference to the wetland.

Geography

This commune, formerly rural, became from its proximity with Bordeaux (20KM) an perish-urban commune. With a population of 2535 inhabitants, it underwent demographic trends identical to the average of the department. Served by the main roads of communication which are RN 1113 , the highway A62 (Bordeaux-Toulouse) and the railway line Bordeaux-Sète , its territory is composed of a zone of the woodlands, a residential area and a wine-growing zone (classified in name " Serious of Pessac-Léognan " ). Its architectural heritage concentrates on its Romance church of XIIe century close which have found two marble sarcophagi of Paros, exposed today to the Musée of Louvre.

History

Sarcophagi

Sarcophagi exposed to the Louvre:

Sarcophagus with the legend of Sélénè and Endymion
Sarcophagus with the myth of Dionysos and ARIANE

The account of Raymond De Sèze to his older brother Paul Romain, lawyer of Louis XVI, makes it possible to date this discovery at October 14th, 1804 definitively.

“Holy Medard this Sunday, October 15, 1804 … we had yesterday morning very close to Victor, the spectacle of a superb monument which one has just discovered in a field which belongs to Camille Boval and which is beside the church of Eyrans. They are two tombs of Marbre white sculptor, long of six feet, high three and broad of two, magnificiently carved in the sides and going back to the Romans. You will surely hear of this discovery which is one of most beautiful than one made in France since centuries… I cannot speak to you about it with details but it is splendid! And what there is of more astonishing, it is that the field which contains this treasure was plowed hundred million times and which it is precisely only yesterday that the swing-plow of the plowman having met something of hard, one dug and one found this antique which has such an amount of price…”

There are others well found Saint sarcophagi Medard d' Eyrans, out of hard stone, comprising simple drawings. One of them is visible with the foot of the church.

9 Cross of mission or Cross of crossroads