Alet-les-Bains

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Alet-les-Bains
Coat of arms of Alet-les-Bains
Alet-les-Bains (France)
Alet-les-Bains
region Occitania
Department Aude
Arrondissement Limoux
Canton La Région Limouxine
Community association Limouxin
Coordinates 43 ° 0 ′  N , 2 ° 15 ′  E Coordinates: 43 ° 0 ′  N , 2 ° 15 ′  E
height 180-720 m
surface 23.54 km 2
Residents 406 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 17 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 11580
INSEE code 11008

Half-timbered house in Alet-les-Bains
( Auberge de la main d'argent )

Alet-les-Bains is a French commune of the department of Aude in the region Occitania . It belongs to the canton of La Région Limouxine and the Arrondissement Limoux .

geography

The southern French spa town with 406 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is located in the natural landscape of Razès in the Aude valley , five kilometers south of Limoux and around 25 kilometers south of Carcassonne . On both sides of the Aude and the village, the mountains rise to a height of more than 700 meters above sea level.

The municipality is on the railway line from Carcassonne to Rivesaltes .

history

The exact origins of Sainte-Marie Abbey are unknown, but it is believed that it dates back to the 8th century. According to a forged document, it was founded by Berà , Viscount of Razès . In the 12th century it gained influence and attracted many pilgrims . Isolated in the Cathar country , the place was fortified by Pons Amiel, abbot from 1167 to 1197, with a wall and four city gates that are still visible today. Although the cathedral chapter made Saint-Ferreol its successor after Amiel Bernard's death , he was promptly ousted by the Cathar Bertrand de Saissac , guardian of Viscount Raimund-Roger Trencavel . The latter forcibly entered the monastery, and some monks were killed. Then he had his predecessor Bernard Saint-Ferreol thrown into dungeon and Pons Amiel exhumed . He placed the corpse on the abbot's chair and, presiding over a corpse, was chosen to be Abbot Boson, favorite of the Cathars, in a macabre scene. Berengar of Barcelona , Archbishop of Narbonne , approved this election after receiving a sum of money of unknown amount. Boson was not driven out until 1222 when Alet came under the rule of County Foix .

Also to give more emphasis to the fight against the Cathars, the abbey was elevated to a diocese in 1318 (→ Diocese of Alet ). This lasted until the French Revolution . The diocese included eighty parishes and extended to Formiguères and Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet .

Under the episcopate of Antoine de Dax , the Huguenots looted the episcopal palace and the abbey during the Huguenot Wars in the 16th century. Although Bishop Nicolas Pavillon , a former student of Vincent de Paul and advocate for the poor, would have had the means to repair the damage in the 17th century, he rejected this request because he was afraid of the judgment of the needy, who too demanded their share from the collection . However, the Alet Bishop Pavillon owed the bridge over the Aude, built in 1662, and a sophisticated irrigation system. Pavillon also founded the Dames Régentes teachers' seminar . The Dames Régentes had the task of teaching girls in religion and other things.

At the end of the 18th century, Charles de la Cropte, the last bishop of Alet, opened the road ( Grand Route ) from Limoux to Quillan . He also had the former abbey building from the 12th century expanded. Since then, stone stairs from the old abbey have been used to reach the synodal hall and the library. The bishopric with its three hectare gardens today occupies the majority of the site of the former abbey.

During the secularization of the French Revolution, the Bishop's Palace was acquired by the last bishop's personal surgeon . His daughter Elise Dellac married Auguste Saunière, who was mayor of Alet for 18 years. Her descendants owned the property until the 1950s. Today it belongs to the owner of the Hostellerie de l'Evêché hotel .

coat of arms

A silver flying on an azure field, about a güldenes Processional - for Polearm extended. The whole thing is angled by two golden stars at the top and supported at the bottom by a silver trust.

Population development

year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2008 2017
Residents 526 590 554 543 460 464 406

economy

Hardly any mineral water spring in France is used longer than that of Alet-les-Bains. The water has been bottled for almost 120 years. Thanks to a 300 meter deep well, the spring has a capacity of 400 m³ per hour and is therefore one of the most productive in France.

Alet-les-Bains has a casino operated by the Groupe Omnium . The place used to attract many guests due to its hotels, thermal baths , boutiques and a bus connection from the train station to the center.

The community has a dolomite quarry on the outskirts.

Attractions

  • You can see the ruins of the Sainte-Marie Abbey , whose church became a cathedral in the 14th century. The chapter house dates back to the 14th century. Remains of the bishop's palace are also left. The cathedral has been a listed building since 1862, other parts of the complex since 1922.
  • The parish church of Saint-André was restored in the 19th century. It includes two chapels, one from the end of the 15th century and the other from the 16th century. The church has been a listed building since 1922.
  • The medieval village center surrounded by a wall.
  • Various half-timbered houses (some with bay windows ) from the 12th and 14th centuries have been a listed building since 1948. You are on Grande-Place , Rue Cadène and Rue Calvières .
  • The thermal spring , which was discovered and used by the Romans over 2000 years ago.
  • The thermal bath

  • Former abbey or cathedral

  • Half-timbered houses

  • Mineral water spring

  • Thermal bath

Personalities

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jean-Luc Aubarbier, Michel Binet and Hervé Champollion: Le Cathar . Ouest-France, Rennes 2008.
  2. ↑ {{Web archive | url = http: //www.alet.fr/ | wayback = 20170626032021 | text = - | archiv-bot = 2018-08-22 23:16:40 InternetArchiveBot}} (link not available)
  3. ↑ Entry no. PA00102515 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  4. ↑ Entry no. PA00102514 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  5. ^ Gratien Leblanc: L'église Saint-André d'Alet . Imprimé Busson, Paris 1972.
  6. ↑ Entry no. PA00102517 in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)

Web links

Commons : Alet-les-Bains  - Collection of images, videos and audio files