Arfons
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Arfons Arfonts |
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Camouflage | |
| Arrondissement | Castres | |
| Canton | La Montagne Noire | |
| Community association | Lauragais Revel Sorèzois | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 26 ' N , 2 ° 10' E | |
| height | 566-904 m | |
| surface | 40.71 km 2 | |
| Residents | 168 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 4 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 81110 | |
| INSEE code | 81016 | |
 Arfons - View of the village with the snow-capped Pyrenees in the background |
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Arfons ( Occitan : Arfonts ) is a southern French municipality with 168 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Tarn department in the Occitania region (previously Midi-Pyrénées ). The two hamlets of Les Bastouls and Les Escudiés also belong to the municipality .
location
Arfons is located on the Sor river on the northern edge of the Lauragais cultural landscape in the southwestern foothills of the Montagne Noire and the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park, about 85 kilometers (driving distance) in a southeastern direction from Toulouse . Castelnaudary is about 33 kilometers to the southwest ; the canton's capital Revel is about 20 kilometers to the west.
Population development
| year | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 |
| Residents | 420 | 212 | 179 | 177 | 176 | 185 |
In the first half of the 19th century, the place consistently had between 1,300 and 1,500 inhabitants; thereafter, the number of residents fell continuously. Only in the last few decades has a slight increase been observed.
economy
In contrast to most places in the Lauragais , the cultivation of woad ( pastel ) hardly played a role in the Middle Ages and early modern times due to the high altitude of the place and its wooded surroundings. Today Arfons lives to a large extent from tourism (hiking, holiday apartments). Both a wind farm and a photovoltaic system have been installed in the municipality .
history
Little information is available on the history of the place: In 1150, the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem built a castle, a hospital and a small chapel that became the nucleus of the place. At times the area, rich in forests and water, was a retreat for gangs of robbers. In the 17th century, Pierre-Paul Riquet , the planner and builder of the Canal du Midi , is said to have had the idea of supplying water to the canal with the help of reservoirs and canals ( rigoles ).
Attractions
- In the hamlet of Les Escudiés there is a small parish church ( Église Notre-Dame du Rosaire ), which is said to date from the time of the order of knights and whose outer walls are partly built using drywall technology . A simple bell gable ( clocher-mur ) rises above a porch on the north side . Only the window frames are made of precisely hewn light sandstone. Inside the church is covered by a wooden roof truss.
- Several houses in the community are built using the same technique from rough stone slabs of different sizes and thicknesses ( lauzes ). Some of them were plastered later.
- Above the entrance of a house there is a niche with a statue ( La Toustone ), which some believe to be a pagan (mother) goddess, others a badly worn image of Mary.
- A statue of Our Lady of the late Middle Ages is actually attached to another house.
Web links
- Arfons - photo + info (French)