Saint-Lizier

Saint-Lizier ; Sent Líser
region	Occitania
Department	Ariège
Arrondissement	Saint-Girons
Canton	Portes du Couserans
Community association	Couserans-Pyrénées
Coordinates	43 ° 0 ′ N , 1 ° 8 ′ E Coordinates: 43 ° 0 ′ N , 1 ° 8 ′ E
height	368-578 m
surface	9.01 km 2
Residents	1,418 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	157 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	09190
INSEE code	09268
Website	Saint-Lizier
	; Saint-Lizier - the townscape

Saint-Lizier ( Gascognisch Sent Líser ) is a town in the south of France and a municipality with 1,418 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the historic province of Couserans in the Ariège department . The place was a bishopric until 1801 and was on a branch line of the Way of St. James ( Via Tolosana ) .

Location and climate

The place Saint-Lizier is located in the foothills of the Pyrenees on the east bank of the Salat River at an altitude of approx. 420 m . The next major city is Toulouse , a good 100 km (driving distance) north ; the neighboring town of Saint-Girons is only about 3 km south. The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 785 mm / year) falls over the year.

Population development

year	1800	1851	1901	1954	1999	2017
Residents	1,049	1,295	1,273	1,348	1,592	1,418
Source: Cassini and INSEE

Despite the release of labor in the rural communities as a result of the mechanization of agriculture , the population of the place hardly increased in the 19th and 20th centuries.

history

As early as Gallo-Roman times, Saint-Lizier was an important place as the headquarters of the Consoranni (Lugdunum Consoranorum) , a people who lived at the foot of the Pyrenees . In 72 BC The Roman general Pompey stopped here when he returned to Rome from his victory over Quintus Sertorius in Spain .

As early as the 5th century, the place became the seat of the diocese of Couserans , the oldest in the Ariège region. The first known bishop was Valerius ( French Valier ); he was followed by the eponymous St. Glycerius ( French: Lizier ), who took part in the Synod of Agde in 506 . The diocese was abolished by the Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and the Holy See .

Since the Middle Ages , Saint-Lizier has consisted of two separate quarters: one is the episcopal upper town, which is still surrounded by Gallo-Roman walls today; here is the former Notre-Dame de la Sède cathedral . In contrast, the lower town is considered a citizen town up to the salad.

Attractions

former Saint-Lizier Cathedral

dto., apse fresco

Parts of the Gallo-Roman city wall can still be seen. The alternation between broken stone and brick is remarkable .

The former Saint-Lizier cathedral rises above the tomb of St. Lizier; it was built in the 11th century, consecrated in 1117 and was a cathedral until 1655. After innovations in the 14th and 15th centuries, only the eastern parts of the church are Romanesque . The single nave nave with three bays ends with three apses . In the choir of the central apse there are frescoes from the beginning of the 12th century, which show the events of the childhood of Jesus in the lower row and eight apostles above ; the apse calotte shows a fresco depicting Christ in a quatrefoil mandorla as the ruler of the world ( Pantocrator ). On the south side of the church is the small cloister (cloître) from the 12th / 13th. Century, which is considered the most important Romanesque evidence of the region. The two upper floors of the bell tower (clocher) , which are built on an octagonal floor plan in the style of the Jacobin church of Toulouse and end in a crenellated wreath, are remarkable .

The former Notre-Dame de la Sède cathedral is a Gothic building from the 13th / 14th centuries. Century. The round tower above the apse is unusual . The nave was formerly completely covered with paintings.