Foix
| Foix | ||
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Ariège | |
| Arrondissement | Foix | |
| Canton | Foix | |
| Community association | Pays Foix-Varilhes | |
| Coordinates | 42 ° 58 ′ N , 1 ° 36 ′ E | |
| height | 358-933 m | |
| surface | 19.32 km 2 | |
| Residents | 9,532 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 493 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 09000 | |
| INSEE code | 09122 | |
| Website | www.mairie-foix.fr | |
Foix is a municipality with 9,532 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the south of France and the capital of the Ariège department in the Occitania region . Foix is the second most populous municipality in the department after Pamiers .
geography
Foix is located around 70 kilometers south-southeast of Toulouse at the exit of the former Ariège glacier valley in the Pyrenees . At the northern outskirts of the city the Arget joins the Ariège.
Neighboring municipalities are: Crampagna and Saint-Jean-de-Verges in the north, Arabaux in the northeast, Pradières in the east, Montgaillard in the southeast, Ferrières-sur-Ariège in the south, Ganac in the southwest, Saint-Pierre-de-Rivière and Cos in the west and Vernajoul to the northwest.
history
Foix probably goes back to a chapel that was donated by Charlemagne and from which a monastery later developed. The pays de Foix originally belonged to the Duchy of Aquitaine . Later it came to the county of Carcassonne . In the 11th century it was elevated to the status of a county , which was ruled by a glorious noble family. The counts regularly performed troubadours and poets at their court . The Count Gaston III. Fébus was even the author of a hunting book. The pays de Foix belonged together with the Couserans and the Donézan to the Cathar region . The walls of Foix withstood the onslaught of the Crusaders in the 13th century. The Albigensian Crusade was particularly intense here. In 1229 the Albingens War was declared over in the Treaty of Paris and the Counts of Foix were made vassals of the French king. By inheritance, these came to the possession of the Navarre Béarn , where they settled in order not to be under the rule of the French king. But in 1607 the Béarn also came under the rule of Henri IV , who added it to his crown estate .
The Counts of Foix practiced together with the Bishop of Urgell as co-princes rule over Andorra made. They transferred these rights to the French king, who has since sent a bailiff to Andorra. On the French side, this right was transferred to the French Republic or the President of the Republic. Andorra has been an independent principality since 1993 with the two co-princes as heads of state.
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2007 | 2017 |
| Residents | 8156 | 9311 | 9599 | 9282 | 9964 | 9109 | 9658 | 9532 |
| Sources: Cassini and INSEE | ||||||||
economy
The inhabitants of the Pays de Foix lived for a long time from iron ore mining in the mine du Rancié , which was operated according to an archaic cooperative system until it was finally closed in 1931 . In the Ariege has also been since the Middle Ages again and again by gold washers successfully searched for gold. The north side of the Pyrenees, especially along the Ariège, is densely wooded, so that many people also made a living from the timber industry . In the vicinity of Foix there are also large fish ponds, where the large supply of clean water is used for fish farming . Today tourism dominates.
Attractions
- Outstanding sights are the castle of the Count of Foix and the former abbey church of Saint Volusien . The narrow streets of Rue de Labistour and Rue des Marchands intersect in the old town by the small bronze goose fountain. A steep path leads to the castle, the Rue des Chapeliers . In the castle is the local history museum, the department museum of the Ariège, where not only war and hunting weapons but also finds from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age are shown.
- Halle aux grains
Town twinning
Foix has twinned with Lleida in Spain since 1962 and with Andorra la Vella .
Personalities
- Charles de Freycinet (1828–1923), politician
- Christian d'Orgeix (1927–2019), painter
- Michel Teychenné (* 1957), politician
- Éric Carrière (* 1973), French midfielder for FCO Dijon
