Carpentras

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carpentras
Carpentras coat of arms
Carpentras (France)
Carpentras
region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Department Vaucluse
Arrondissement Carpentras
Canton Carpentras
Community association Ventoux-Comtat-Venaissin
Coordinates 44 ° 3 '  N , 5 ° 3'  E Coordinates: 44 ° 3 '  N , 5 ° 3'  E
height 56-212 m
surface 37.92 km 2
Residents 28,309 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 747 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 84200
INSEE code 84031
Website http://www.carpentras.fr/

Carpentras

Carpentras ( Occitan Carpentras ) is a southern French , Provencal town with 28,309 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Vaucluse in the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur . It is the seat of the Arrondissement Carpentras and the Canton of Carpentras .

From the end of the 6th century to 1801 Carpentras was the seat of a diocese of the same name , which was temporarily located in Venasque from the 7th century to around the 11th century .

history

Carpentras has been around since the 5th century BC. Passed down as a marketplace. It goes back to a Celtic settlement of the Meminia tribe, which was visited by Phoenician and Greek traders as a trading post to buy wheat, honey, goats, sheep and hides. In Gallo-Roman times, Carpentras - at that time Carpentorate or Carpentoracte - was also settled, as evidenced by an impressive Roman arch of honor . From this time an inscription was found for the Gallo-Roman local god Mars Nabelcus .

Since 1274 Carpentras belonged to the papal territory of Comtat Venaissin . Between 1309 and 1314, Pope Clement V made Carpentras  his residence alongside Avignon . During the tenure of Pope Innocent VI. (1352-1362) Carpentras was surrounded by a city wall with 32 towers and four gates against the plundering mercenary troops ( Grandes Compagnies ). The gates were named after the four failing country roads: Mazaner Tor (Porte de Mazan, east), Perneser Tor (Porte de Pernes, south), Monteuxer Tor (Porte Monteux, southwest) and Oranger Tor (Porte d'Orange, northwest), that survived alone. From 1320 Carpentras was the capital of the Comtat Venaissin, the Pope's Provencal county, and remained so until the French Revolution , when the Comtat was annexed by the French Republic after a plebiscite .

Thanks to the asylum policy of the papal curia, Carpentras was, alongside Cavaillon , Avignon and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, an important center and vanishing point of French Jewry before persecution under Philip IV the Fair . Jews lived in a ghetto, a Jewish quarter ( carrière ), the gates of which were locked every evening. The synagogue, dating from 1367, is the oldest in France and was replaced by a new one in 1743. Church services are still held in it today . The mikveh of the first synagogue from 1367 is worth seeing .

Carpentras is one of those Provencal communes in which the Front National has great influence, the right-wing party here has consistently achieved 15–20% of the votes for years; in the 2017 presidential election it was 30.6%. In 1990 Carpentras' Jewish cemetery was desecrated, an act that went beyond similar incidents in other cities. In autumn 2005 there was an arson attack on a mosque during Friday prayers , but only minor damage to property occurred.

politics

Coat of arms and motto

Blazon : "In red two silver passion nails with an eyelet turned outwards, connected with a chain in the structure of a bridle ."

The motto is: Unitas fortitudo, dissentio fragilitas (“Unity brings strength, disagreement makes you fragile”).

Town twinning

Carpentras maintains city ​​partnerships with:

Attractions

Porte d'Orange

See also: List of Monuments historiques in Carpentras

The Roman arch of honor , called the Arc de Carpentras , is at the rear of the Palace of Justice. On its east side it shows two prisoners, one dressed in fur (possibly a Teuton), the other in a tunic. Because of the clothing that is exotic for southern Gaul, it is assumed that this is a man from the Orient.

The 27 m high Porte d'Orange (around 1360) with a crenellated crown is the only remaining city gate and as a three-walled gate tower ( half-shell tower ) is open on the city side. It has two plank floors, one above the brick passage ( barrel vault ) and the defense platform behind the battlements.

The former cathedral St-Siffrein (the 4th bishop of the city, St. Suffredus (French. St. Siffrein ) consecrated) was by antipope Benedict XIII. Commissioned in 1404 and completed in 1519, even if it got a baroque facade in the 17th century. It was built into the city wall. The bishop was able to take part in the mass from a small loggia , which can be reached via the gallery in the main nave.

The late Gothic south portal is traditionally referred to as Porte Juive (Jewish portal), because Jews who converted to Christianity were led through this portal to baptism. In the gable of the eyelash a stone hemisphere is shown, which is gnawed by rats. This representation is not, as is often claimed, an allusion to the Black Death , as the background to the transmission of the disease was unknown at the time of completion. It could be a medieval depiction of demons or a degrading depiction of converts .

In 1669 the Charité ( Hospice de Charité ) was established to help the needy. Today it is used as an exhibition building. In the 18th century , at the instigation of Bishop Joseph-Dominique d'Inguimbert, a hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu , was built, whose pharmacy has an important collection of Moustiers faience and a magnificent library with 100,000 volumes.

In the northeast of Carpentras you will find the aqueduct , which is not of ancient origin like the Pont du Gard , but was designed by Antoine d'Allemand . It was inaugurated in 1745 and spanned 631 m with 48 arches and was supposed to supply Carpentras with water until 1893.

The weekly market that takes place every Friday morning in the entire city center is also famous.

Carpentras has a town partnership with Vevey and Seesen am Harz .

  • Baroque west facade of St. Siffrein's Cathedral

  • Gothic south facade of St. Siffrein's Cathedral

  • Detail from the south facade of St. Siffrein's Cathedral

  • Roman arch of honor in Carpentras

  • Fountain in Carpentras

  • Truffle market in Carpentras

economy

Since 1768 madder ( Rubia tinctorum ) has been grown and used on a large scale in the area around Carpentras . With that Carpentras rose again to the market town. With the construction of a canal branch ( Canal de Carpentras ) in 1860, the water of the Durance was able to transform the dry fields of the steppe-like garigue into a fertile garden. This increased the cultivation of vegetables and fruits, such as grapes, cherries and strawberries, which were sold in the market before the season.

traffic

Since April 25, 2015, the city has been connected to Avignon and its TGV train station every hour by a train line. The 16 km long railway line from the branch station in Sorgues to Carpentras had not been used by passenger trains since 1938.

Regular events

  • Music festival: In July and August Carpentras organizes a music festival, which is especially dedicated to the composer Jacques Offenbach .
  • Carpentras has already been the destination of a stage of the Tour de France international cycle race several times .

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Carpentras  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ L'Armorial des Villes et des Villes de France. Accessed May 10, 2020 (French).
  2. ↑ Eurailpress.de: France: Reopening of the Avignon - Carpentras line , April 29, 2015