Suze, Drôme


Suze is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France in the foothills of the Alps, its buildings are in a steeply-sloped village above a small tributary feeding into the Drôme which runs from the east into the Rhône.

Population

Landmarks

The village has a cross to Saint Pancras and has a medieval Roman Catholic church.

Geographic context

Suze is centred northeast of Crest, the main population and the administrative centre of the canton. Gigors-et-Lozeron, Beaufort-sur-Gervanne, Cobonne, Aouste-sur-Sye,Mirabel-et-Blacons and Montclar-sur-Gervanne border Suze.

Etymology/topology

The name is a corruption of segusia, "forceful", given to various elevated strongholds, made up of the components sego meaning "force or vigour", and a suffix -us. The same etymology describes Suze-la-Rousse to the south in Drôme and in Piedmont, Italy: Susa, which has a French name, Suse.

Personalities