Couiza

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Couiza
Coisan
Couiza coat of arms
Couiza (France)
Couiza
region Occitania
Department Aude
Arrondissement Limoux
Canton La Haute-Vallée de l'Aude
Community association Limouxin
Coordinates 42 ° 56 '  N , 2 ° 15'  E Coordinates: 42 ° 56 '  N , 2 ° 15'  E
height 218-563 m
surface 6.77 km 2
Residents 1,111 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 164 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 11190
INSEE code 11103

Couiza - Castle of the Dukes of Joyeuse

Couiza ( Occitan Coisan ) is a town in the south of France and a municipality with 1,111 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Aude department in the Occitania region .

location

The place Couiza is located at an altitude of about 225  m at the confluence of the Sals river into the Aude about 41 km (driving distance) south of Carcassonne and about 16 km south of Limoux . The Château d'Arques is located about 11 km east; the village of Rennes-le-Château is located 5 km south. The climate is temperate to mild; Rain (approx. 730 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year 1800 1851 1901 1954 1999 2017
Residents 627 985 1088 1178 1194 1111
Sources: Cassini and INSEE

The continuing slight population growth is mainly due to the immigration of families from the surrounding area ( rural exodus ).

economy

The area around the village is still characterized by agriculture and forestry, with livestock (cattle and sheep) making up the majority of agricultural production. Viticulture is also practiced: Couiza has a share in the Languedoc wine-growing region and is one of around 40 municipalities that are allowed to market their white sparkling wines under the designation of origin Crémant de Limoux , Blanquette de Limoux AOC or Blanquette méthode ancestrale AOC . In the place itself, small trade and small craft and service businesses predominate. There is also a praline factory in town. At the end of the 20th century, tourism was added as an important economic factor.

history

The verifiable history of Couiza (also written Couzanum, Coinsanum, Couissan, Couyzan, Couisan, Couvizan, Couyza or Couizan in the Middle Ages ) goes back to Roman times. The 7th and 8th centuries saw the final phase of Christianization of the area, with the Abbey of Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse playing an important role. As can be seen from a document, there was a priory dependent on Lagrasse in Couizanum in the 9th century .

In the Middle Ages, probably during the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229), Couiza was expanded into a fortified village ( castrum ) . In the middle of the 13th century, the place came into the possession of the Château d'Arques resident Pierre de Voisins, a former comrade of Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester .

In the 16th century, the Joyeuse family played an important role in Languedoc and in the dispute with the Protestants (see Huguenot Wars ). Jean de Joyeuse had the castle of Couiza built from 1513 and a little later (1518) married Françoise, the last heiress of the Voisins family - one of her sons was Guillaume de Joyeuse (1520–1592), four of her grandchildren carried successively the title of Duke of Joyeuse .

Attractions

Château de Couiza (detail)
  • The ancestral castle of the Joyeuse family is - even if it has been converted into a hotel or restaurant - the most important attraction in Couiza. The four-winged building, closed on all sides, with medieval-style round towers in the corners, stands in a well-tended park. The living quarters ( corps de logis ) located between the corner towers are two-storey and have the typical rectangular windows of the Renaissance with cross-shaped windows . The castle, which now serves as a hotel, has been recognized as a monument historique since 1913 and 1944 .
  • The three-aisled and rib-vaulted Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste is the parish church of the place; it probably dates from the 14th century, but was thoroughly renovated in the 19th century - all the stones of the old building were removed and later walled up again; then the interior of the church was painted in the style of the time.

literature

  • Robert Debant: Le Château de Couiza. In: Congrès archéologique de France, 131e session, 1973, Pays de l'Aude. Société française d'archéologie, Paris 1973, pp. 160–168.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Couiza - climate tables
  2. ↑ Château, Couiza in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
  3. ↑ Couiza - Church