Balaruc-le-Vieux

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balaruc-le-Vieux
Balaruc Vièlh
Coat of arms of Balaruc-le-Vieux
Balaruc-le-Vieux (France)
Balaruc-le-Vieux
region Occitania
Department Herault
Arrondissement Montpellier
Canton Frontignan
Community association Bassin de Thau
Coordinates 43 ° 28 ′  N , 3 ° 41 ′  E Coordinates: 43 ° 28 ′  N , 3 ° 41 ′  E
height 0-196 m
surface 5.92 km 2
Residents 2,628 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 444 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 34540
INSEE code
Website http://www.ville-balaruclevieux.fr/

Balaruc-le-Vieux - View of the town

Balaruc-le-Vieux ( Occitan : Balaruc Vièlh ) is a place and a municipality in the south of France with 2,628 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region .

location

The circular village ( Circulade ) Balaruc-le-Vieux is located on a hill on the lagoon lake Étang de Thau at a height of about 25 meters above sea level. d. M. about 29 kilometers (driving distance) southwest of Montpellier or almost 50 kilometers northeast of Béziers . The port city of Sète is only about eight kilometers south.

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2017
Residents 533 521 701 1065 1802 2024 2628

By the end of the 19th century, the population of the municipality doubled from around 400 in 1800 to just under 1,000 in 1881. Five years later, the municipality of Balaruc-le-Vieux was divided and the independent municipality of Balaruc-les-Bains was created . Balaruc-le-Vieux then had only about 500 inhabitants - a number that fell to below 400 in the 1930s and 1940s. Due to the growing importance of the municipality as a holiday home and the relative proximity to the major cities of Montpellier and Béziers and the significantly lower property prices in the countryside, there has been a significant increase in population over the past few decades.

economy

In earlier times, the residents of the village lived largely on self-sufficiency from agriculture, with both grain and wine being grown. In addition, they ran a little cattle (pigs, chickens, etc.). As in many places in Languedoc , viticulture dominated in the 19th century; the local winegrowers' cooperative markets the wine produced here through the Pays d'Herault and Pays d'Oc appellations . Because of the sales crisis for French wine, however, only about half of the agricultural land is still viniculture; on the other half, grain ( wheat , maize ) and sunflowers are grown again. In the last few decades, tourism in Balaruc-le-Vieux has become very important.

history

Fortress wall ( remparts )

The remains of a largely underground Roman aqueduct ( Aqueduc antique de Balaruc ) as well as ancient coin finds etc. indicate the presence of an ancient settlement at the present-day location or in the immediate vicinity. Already in the 10th century the church and place belonged to the diocese of Agde ; in a document from 1083 the church is referred to as the priory church belonging to the diocese of Maguelone . In the 17th century and in the Napoleonic period, the strategically important place was surrounded by a modern fortress wall ( remparts ).

Attractions

Église Saint-Maurice
  • The old town center of Balaruc-le-Vieux belongs to the type of Circulades - round villages that were built around a core consisting of a castle and / or church for defense reasons and whose outer house front served as a replacement for an expensive city wall.
  • Only sparse wall remains of the medieval castle ( château ) have been preserved, which were integrated into the surrounding houses.
  • The local parish church ( Église Saint-Maurice ) dates from the 14th century. As construction material mainly only roughly hewn were broken stones used but in layers and in the dressing were walled; the corner stones , however, are precisely carved. A small late Gothic rose window is located above the west portal with its unadorned tympanum . The single nave interior of the church is spanned by groin vaults from the 19th century; only in the flat apse is a ribbed vault .
  • The scant remains of an underground running in parts of the Roman aqueduct ( aqueduct ) are in 2008 as a monument historique been recognized.

Web links

Commons : Balaruc-le-Vieux  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Aqueduc antique de Balaruc, Balaruc-le-Vieux in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)