Illiers-Combray

Illiers-Combray is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in north central France.

Illiers-Combray
Commune
The church and surroundings in Illiers-Combray
Coat of arms
Location of Illiers-Combray
Illiers-Combray
Illiers-Combray
Coordinates: 48°18′04″N 1°14′54″E
CountryFrance
RegionCentre-Val de Loire
DepartmentEure-et-Loir
ArrondissementChartres
CantonIlliers-Combray
IntercommunalityPays de Combray
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Jean-Claude Sédillot
Area
1
33.60 km2 (12.97 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
3,324
 • Density99/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
28196 /28120
Elevation144–204 m (472–669 ft)
(avg. 162 m or 531 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±%
17933,170—    
18002,617−17.4%
18062,829+8.1%
18212,473−12.6%
18312,937+18.8%
18363,069+4.5%
18412,916−5.0%
18463,159+8.3%
18513,136−0.7%
18563,100−1.1%
18613,003−3.1%
18663,005+0.1%
18722,993−0.4%
18762,997+0.1%
18812,795−6.7%
18862,831+1.3%
18912,860+1.0%
18962,795−2.3%
19012,812+0.6%
19063,035+7.9%
19112,985−1.6%
19212,790−6.5%
19262,963+6.2%
19312,734−7.7%
19362,875+5.2%
19463,017+4.9%
19542,937−2.7%
19623,089+5.2%
19682,971−3.8%
19753,407+14.7%
19823,333−2.2%
19903,329−0.1%
19993,225−3.1%
20083,249+0.7%

Literature

Combray was the writer Marcel Proust's name for the village of Illiers (near the Cathedral town of Chartres), vividly depicted by him in the opening chapters of his vast semi-autobiographical novel In Search of Lost Time.

The home of Proust's "Aunt Léonie" in the heart of the village, where he spent much of his childhood, has been transformed into a museum to the writer's memory. It provides visitors with a delightful view of 19th-century provincial life as well as of the many Proustian mementos on display.

It should be added that Proust scholars have recently claimed his descriptions of "Combray" owe as much to the author's stays in his uncle's home in Auteuil, near Paris, as to Illiers-Combray.

As a tribute to Proust's literary masterpiece, the people of Illiers decided, in 1971, to change the town's name to Illiers-Combray, on the occasion of the first centenary of the author's birth.

Twinning

The village is twinned with Coniston, Cumbria, the home of John Ruskin.[2] Ruskin's work was a source of inspiration to Proust.

gollark: If you're not an ideal inference process, that certainly isn't *my* fault.
gollark: My entry should be obvious to an ideal inference process.
gollark: We're doing continuous phases nowadays.
gollark: Oops.
gollark: I'm pretty sure I suggested that ages ago.

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Addison, Mike (2014). "Coniston toasts its twin towns". Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 5 June 2017.



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