page_title: Barzan, Charente-Maritime
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Barzan, Charente-Maritime / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Les environs de Barzan
context_page_description: Barzan is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
  The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barzanais or Barzanaises.
  The commune is the site of a major Gallo-Roman site of Barzan structured excavations carried out since 1994. Aerial photographs and the first archaeological excavations have revealed the presence of a Gallo-Roman port city of great importance. Other remains are the subject of annual excavations.
  It seems almost certain that this Gallo-Roman town is the Novioregum indicated in the Antonine Itinerary. It could also be the Portus Santonum described by Ptolemy.
context_section_description: Barzan is located some 30 km south-west of Saintes and 15 km south-east of Royan in the former province of Saintonge. Access to the commune is by the D145 road from Meschers-sur-Gironde along the coast to the north-west which passes through the commune and continues south-east to Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde. The D114 branches from the D145 near the village and goes north to Arces. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Barzan Plage, Chez Grenon, Les Monards - a small port, Chez Garnier, Les Grandes Mottes Gachin,  and Les Maisons Neuves.
  In the south-west the commune borders the Atlantic Ocean where there is a small beach resort built in the 1960s. The Riviere de Chauvignac flows south outside the eastern border to join the Ruisseau de Désir which forms the eastern border of the commune as it flows south to join the Riviere de Chauvignac to form the Monards Channel at Les Monards which connects to the sea.
caption: Hilly landscape around Barzan
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "<Samsung D70 / D75 / S730 / S750>", "Image Make": "Samsung Techwin", "Image Model": "<Samsung D70 / D75 / S730 / S750>", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "707051", "Image DateTime": "2008:08:28 17:15:14", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "COPYRIGHT, 2007", "Image ExifOffset": "302", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "1", "Thumbnail YResolution": "1", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "31054", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3972", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/180", "EXIF FNumber": "42/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:28 17:15:14", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:28 17:15:14", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "548193/131072", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "763/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "0", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "86/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "88", "EXIF FocalLength": "87/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "RelatedSound", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "30918", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "1", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "52", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "65535", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}