Barby is a commune in the Ardennesdepartment in the Grand Est region of northern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Barbyons or Barbyonnes. The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.
Geography
Barby is located immediately north-west of Rethel and immediately south-east of Château-Porcien. Access to the commune is by the D926 road from Rethel which passes through the heart of the commune and the village before continuing north-west to Château-Porcien. The D946 from Rethel passes through the north of the commune as it goes north-west to Seraincourt. The commune is entirely farmland. The Aisne river passes through the south-east of the commune forming a small part of the south-eastern border as it flows west to eventually join the Oise at Compiègne. The Vaux river flows south, forming the western border of the commune, to join the Aisne just outside the south-western tip of the commune. The Ruisseau de Bourgeron flows from the north-east through the commune and the village and joins the Aisne on the southern border. The Canal des Ardennes is parallel to and south of the Aisne and forms a small portion of the southern border of the commune.
Climate
July and August are very hot and dry with temperatures up to 38 °C. Even so, rainfall is more frequent in summer, but the winters are shorter and less severe. The cold weather lasts only from October to March which favours corn crops and especially Kitchen gardens.
History
Excavations have uncovered a Bronze Age tomb in Barby and the village is traversed by the old Roman road from Rethel to Château-Porcien. The village of Gerson was located on the current territory of the commune in the Middle Ages but is now gone. It was at Gerson that Jean Charlier de Gerson, Chancellor of the University of Paris, was born in 1363. A Wayside cross marks the place which traditionally is his birthplace. The commune named the Rue Gerson after him and the parish built a monument in the church during its construction in 1880 or 1881. Barby appears as Barby on the 1750 Cassini Map and the same on the 1790 version.
In 2010 the commune had 375 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.
Economy
Barby is a rural commune characterised by agriculture. The wheat harvest wheat is a highlight of life in the commune.
