Cordes-sur-Ciel

Cordes-sur-Ciel
region	Occitania
Department	Camouflage
Arrondissement	Albi
Canton	Carmaux-2 Vallée du Cérou
Community association	Cordais et Causse
Coordinates	44 ° 4 ′ N , 1 ° 57 ′ E Coordinates: 44 ° 4 ′ N , 1 ° 57 ′ E
height	159-320 m
surface	8.27 km 2
Residents	869 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	105 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	81170
INSEE code	81069
Website	Cordes-sur-Ciel
	; Cordes-sur-Ciel

Cordes - view from the lower town

Cordes-sur-Ciel is a municipality in the south of France with 869 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Tarn department in the Occitania region . The location, which is spectacularly located on a hill, has retained a medieval appearance and is therefore a popular tourist destination.

location

Cordes is located on a hill in the cultural landscape of the Albigeois approx. 80 km (driving distance) southeast of Cahors or approx. 25 km northwest of Albi at an altitude of approx. 240 to 285 m above sea level. d. The Cérou , a tributary of the Aveyron , flows past on the north side of the hill . The climate is temperate, rain falls all year round.

Population development

year	1800	1851	1901	1954	1999	2014
Residents	2,303	2,925	1,798	1,134	996	953

The continuous decline in the number of inhabitants since the middle of the 19th century is mainly due to the mechanization of agriculture ; the number has only been more or less stable since the 1980s.

economy

The inhabitants of the place lived partly as self-sufficient on the agriculture; on the other hand, Cordes was an important regional market and trade center. Early on the Cérou was on the shore, a tanner's quarter , which, however, largely disappeared in the 19th century. Small amounts of wine were also grown; it is marketed today under the appellations Côte du Tarn, Comté Tolosan, Gaillac, etc. Tourism now plays the most important role in the economic life of the place.

history

Since when and to what extent the mountain peak was settled by Raimund VII , the Count of Toulouse , in 1222 before a bastide was founded in the time of the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229) , is unclear. The old name of the place was Cordua and is probably to be understood as a reference to the city of Córdoba in Al-Andalus ; Both cities were important leather production and processing sites in the Middle Ages. According to the provisions of the Treaty of Paris , Jeanne , the only daughter and thus the sole heir of Count Raimund VII, was born in 1229 with Alfons of Poitiers , brother of King Louis IX. , engaged; the marriage was concluded in 1241, but remained childless. After her death (1271) the inheritance, which also included large parts of the Albigeois and the city of Cordes, fell to the French crown. Cordes experienced an economic heyday from the 13th to the 16th century; The Huguenot Wars (1562–1598) also had little influence on the fortunes of the city, which then had over 5,000 inhabitants. The addition sur-Ciel was invented in 1947 by the journalist Jeanne Ramel-Cals, but it was not officially added to the place name until 1993.

Attractions

Numerous individual buildings by Cordes are recognized as Monuments historiques (see: List of Monuments historiques in Cordes-sur-Ciel ); the most important are:

the late medieval city gates Porte de la Jane, Porte de l'Horloge and Porte des Ormeaux
the commercial and town houses Maison du Grand Fauçonnier, Maison du Grand Veneur, Maison Gaugiran, Maison Gorsse and Maison Fompeyrouse
the late medieval market hall (hall) with its well over 100 m deep
the late medieval church of Saint-Michel
the Musée Arts du Sucre et du Chocolat is located at 33 Grand Rue Raimond VII