Cesseras
Cesseras Sesseraç |
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region | Occitania | |
Department | Herault | |
Arrondissement | Beziers | |
Canton | Saint-Pons-de-Thomières | |
Community association | Minervois Saint-Ponais Orb-Jaur | |
Coordinates | 43 ° 20 ' N , 2 ° 43' E | |
height | 54-417 m | |
surface | 15.07 km 2 | |
Residents | 392 (January 1, 2017) | |
Population density | 26 inhabitants / km 2 | |
Post Code | 34210 | |
INSEE code | 34075 |
Cesseras ( Occitan : Sesseraç ) is a French commune with 392 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the cultural landscape of the Minervois in the Hérault department in the Occitania region .
location
Cesseras is 50 kilometers (driving distance) west of Béziers and 40 kilometers northeast of Carcassonne . It is 35 kilometers to the south-east to Narbonne . The river Cesse , a left tributary of the Aude , flows five kilometers north of the place and could have given its name. The municipality is part of the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park . The neighboring municipality of Azillanet , two kilometers to the east, is also worth seeing.
Population development
year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2008 | 2017 |
Residents | 560 | 442 | 433 | 388 | 382 | 400 | 411 | 392 |
In the 19th century the place had over 700 inhabitants at times, but the phylloxera crisis and the mechanization of agriculture led to a steady decline in population, which only came to a standstill in the 1990s.
economy
Agriculture, retail and small crafts have shaped the place for centuries. Cesseras is part of the Minervois wine region , but wine sales in France have been falling since the 1990s.
history
As can be deduced from excavations in the Grotte d'Aldène , people have been in the region since prehistoric times. There are also evidence of the megalithic culture (approx. 3500-4000 BC). Cesseras appears possibly for the first time under the name villa Censaradus ("country estate des Censaradus") in a document of Charles the Bald from the year 844. In the 13th century the landlord ( seigneur ) of the place was arrested for heresy and imprisoned in Carcassonne; King Louis IX gave the place into the hands of Raymond II Trencavel , who had accompanied the king on the sixth crusade (1248–1254). During the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), highwaymen and robber gangs moved through the village and destroyed the Saint-Geniès church. On October 25, 1591 - during the wars of religion - a battle between Catholic and Protestant army units took place in the area of Cesseras and Azillanet.
Attractions
- The Grotte d'Aldène , located five kilometers northeast of Cesseras, is a prehistoric site where finds from the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age were discovered. The cave has been designated as a monument historique since 1955 .
- The Dolmen de la Cigalière , located two kilometers northeast of Cesseras in the middle of a forest, comes from the megalithic culture. Its huge capstone has tilted and the side orthostats have largely disappeared; nevertheless it was recognized in 1981 as a monument historique .
- The single-nave Romanesque Chapelle Saint-Germain de la Serre from the 11th and 12th centuries is located two kilometers west of the town in a pine forest. It was the parish church of a place that has now disappeared and impresses with its location, with the perfectly crafted and almost mortar-free masonry technology and with balanced proportions. The almost windowless semicircle of the apse is structured by several pilaster strips that end in a round arch frieze under the eaves . The outer walls of the nave are stabilized by buttresses . The narrow slotted windows have monolithic arch stones in contrasting black overlapping arches. In the 12th century a tower with a bell gable was added to the north side . The single nave interior is covered with a barrel vault . The chapel has been recognized as a monument historique since 1947 .
Apse with blind arcades and round arch frieze
South portal with tympanum ; Bows with color change
- The Église Saint-Geniès gives the place its striking silhouette - a late Gothic church from the 15th century with a single but wide nave, as is more common in the south of France - churches with a three-aisled basilica floor plan are the exception here. The bell tower comes from a previous building that was destroyed in the Hundred Years War and was also part of the city fortifications. The church has been registered as a monument historique since 1933 .
- The late medieval castle ( château ) is located on the highest point of the place and also contributes to the townscape. Up close it looks neglected.
- The Chapelle Saint-Salvy was destroyed during the Huguenot Wars and is now in ruins. It once housed a reliquary , parts of which were brought to the Saint-Geniès church. The remains of the church have been recognized as a monument historique since 1971 and placed under protection.
- Parts of the former city fortifications (e.g. two round towers) have been preserved.
literature
- Denis Vialou: Grotte d'Aldène á Cesseras (Hérault) in: Gallia Préhistoire N ° 22, 1979 pp. 1-85
Web links
- Cesseras - photos
- Compilation of some sights in Cesseras (French)
- Cesseras, Grotte d'Aldène - aerial photo + brief information (French)
- Cesseras, Dolmen de la Cigalière - aerial view + photo + brief information (in French)
- Cesseras, Chapelle Saint-Germain - aerial photo + brief information (French)
- Cesseras, Église Saint-Geniès - aerial photo + brief information (French)
- Cesseras, Chapelle Saint-Salvy - aerial photo + brief information (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Grotte d'Aldène, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Dolmen de la Cigalière, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Chapelle Saint-Germain, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Église Saint-Geniès, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Chapelle Saint-Salvy, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)