Cesseras

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Cesseras
Sesseraç
Coat of arms of Cesseras
Cesseras (France)
Cesseras
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 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.

and display information about the image
Cesseras - town view

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

Dolmen de la Cigalière
  • 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 .
  • 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

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Grotte d'Aldène, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  2. ↑ Dolmen de la Cigalière, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ↑ Chapelle Saint-Germain, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  4. ↑ Église Saint-Geniès, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  5. ↑ Chapelle Saint-Salvy, Cesseras in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)