Sainte-Valière

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Sainte-Valière
Santa Valièira
Coat of arms of Sainte-Valière
Sainte-Valière (France)
Sainte-Valière
region Occitania
Department Aude
Arrondissement Narbonne
Canton Le Sud-Minervois
Community association Le Grand Narbonne
Coordinates 43 ° 16 '  N , 2 ° 51'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 16 '  N , 2 ° 51'  E
height 28-115 m
surface 6.39 km 2
Residents 563 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 88 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 11120
INSEE code
Website Sainte-Valiere

Sainte-Valière ( Occitan : Santa Valièira ) is a place and a municipality ( commune ) with 563 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the south of France in the Aude department in the Occitanie region .

location

The town of Sainte-Valière is located in the south of the historic cultural landscape of the Minervois at an altitude of about 80 meters above sea level. d. M. The next larger city, Narbonne , is about 21 kilometers (driving distance) to the southeast.

Population development

year 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2007 2012
Residents 377 292 324 392 392 535 557

In the 19th century the number of inhabitants rose from around 320 to over 500 people. The phylloxera crisis in viticulture and the mechanization of agriculture have led to a continuous population decline since then, which reached its lowest point in the 1970s. The proximity to the city of Narbonne has led to an increase in the number of residents again in recent decades.

economy

A large part of the agricultural land is reserved for viticulture ; the red, rosé and white wines produced here are marketed through the appellations Aude , Languedoc , Pays Cathare , Minervois and Pays d'Oc . Some vacant houses have been converted into holiday apartments ( gîtes ).

history

The history of the place is traced back to Roman and Gallo-Roman origins.

In 1224 Amaury de Montfort handed over the territories conquered by his father Simon de Montfort , the leader of the Albigensian Crusade , - including Sainte-Valière - to the King of France. This in turn gave the place to Olivier de Termes , the heir of the former landlord Raimund III, who died in the dungeon of Carcassonne . After returning from the Sixth Crusade , Olivier de Termes sold most of his property to the Abbey of Fontfroide , which ruled the land ( seigneurie ) until the eve of the French Revolution .

Attractions

  • Nothing remains of the medieval castle ( château ) after the destruction during the Albigensian Crusade.
  • The parish church of Saint-Martial makes a very unbalanced impression: the Romanesque apse shows a beautiful structure of pilaster strips with a rounded arched frieze in Lombard style . In contrast, the unadorned west facade, which was renovated in the 19th century, is plastered and raised by a wrought-iron bell bracket. The interior of the single-nave church is spanned by a wooden ceiling construction.
Surroundings
  • There are several wayside crosses and memorial crosses in the vicinity of the village, which can be visited as part of a hike.

Web links

Commons : Sainte-Valière  - Collection of images, videos and audio files