Montferrand
Montferrand | ||
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region | Occitania | |
Department | Aude | |
Arrondissement | Carcassonne | |
Canton | Le Bassin Chaurien | |
Community association | Castelnaudary Lauragais Audois | |
Coordinates | 43 ° 22 ′ N , 1 ° 49 ′ E | |
height | 186-301 m | |
surface | 17.93 km 2 | |
Residents | 565 (January 1, 2017) | |
Population density | 32 inhabitants / km 2 | |
Post Code | 11320 | |
INSEE code | 11243 | |
Montferrand - church and cemetery |
Montferrand is a municipality in the south of France with 565 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Aude department in the Occitania region .
location
Montferrand lies in the heart of the old cultural landscape of the Lauragais at an altitude of about 240 meters above sea level. d. M. and about 58 kilometers (driving distance) northwest of Carcassonne and about 13 kilometers northwest of Castelnaudary .
Population development
year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2016 |
Residents | 480 | 438 | 395 | 352 | 356 | 410 | 467 | 546 |
In the 19th century the place always had between 700 and 1000 inhabitants. The mechanization of agriculture and the associated loss of jobs has since led to a significant decline in the number of inhabitants.
economy
The area around the village is still characterized by agriculture, which in the late Middle Ages and early modern times mainly concentrated on the cultivation of woad ( pastel ). The import of indigo led to a gradual economic decline from the 18th century and farmers turned back to 'normal' agriculture. At the end of the 20th century, tourism in the form of the rental of holiday apartments ( gîtes ) was added as an economic factor.
history
Not much is known about the origins of the village, which is located on a hill, like many other places in Lauragais. However, a Gallo-Roman site excavated at the foot of the village and the small medieval church indicate a long period of settlement. Nothing is known about the destruction during the Albigensian Crusades (1209–1229), the Hundred Years War (1337–1453) or the Huguenot Wars (1562–1598).
Attractions
- The small Romanesque parish church ( Église Saint-Pierre ) with its bell gable is still surrounded by the cemetery. The single-nave church building has a rectangular encased apse , which has been recognized as a monument historique since 1948 .
- Only a rather inconspicuous gate of the formerly existing city wall has survived.
- In the case of the parcel called Peyre Clouque , the remains of a Gallo-Roman country estate ( villa rustica ) or a settlement from the time with a basilica building and a thermal bath were uncovered in the 1950s . There was a cemetery in the immediate vicinity; some of the graves contained silver burial objects. The site is classified as a monument historique . ( [1] )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Église Saint-Pierre, Montferrand in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ↑ Vestiges archéologiques, Montferrand in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)