Montsalvy

Montsalvy (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃salvi]; Occitan: Montsauvi) is a commune in the Cantal department in south-central France.

Montsalvy
Commune
Château of Montsalvy
Coat of arms
Location of Montsalvy
Montsalvy Show map of France Montsalvy Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 44°42′29″N 2°30′03″E / 44.7081°N 2.5008°E / 44.7081; 2.5008
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Cantal
Arrondissement	Aurillac
Canton	Arpajon-sur-Cère
Intercommunality	Châtaigneraie Cantalienne
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Isabelle Lemaire
Area ^1	20.29 km^2 (7.83 sq mi)
Population  (2022)	832
• Density	41.0/km^2 (106/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	15134 /15120
Elevation	269–822 m (883–2,697 ft) (avg. 780 m or 2,560 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

Montsalvy was founded around 1070 as a monastery with a Sauveté, (a refuge zone around a church or a chapel by several boundary markers) by Bérenger de Millau, husband of Adèle de Carlat.

Formerly the "capital" of the Veinazès region, it was for a long time the chief town of the Canton de Montsalvy. Today it is part of the canton of Arpajon-sur-Cère and is the second largest commune in terms of population.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1962	821	—
1968	947	+15.3%
1975	1,100	+16.2%
1982	927	−15.7%
1990	970	+4.6%
1999	896	−7.6%
2008	882	−1.6%

See also

• Communes of the Cantal department

Culture

Literature

Montsalvy appears in the following works:

• Juliette Benzoni, French author (Alexandre Dumas Prix 1973) who wrote and set her Catherine (Benzoni novel) series historical romance in Montsalvy.

Notable person

• Marcellin Boule (1861–1942), palaeontologist, geologist, and anthropologist, was born and died in Montsalvy.