Sauveterre-de-Rouergue
| Sauveterre-de-Rouergue | ||
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Aveyron | |
| Arrondissement | Villefranche-de-Rouergue | |
| Canton | Ceor-Ségala | |
| Community association | Pays Ségali | |
| Coordinates | 44 ° 13 ′ N , 2 ° 19 ′ E | |
| height | 333-682 m | |
| surface | 23.43 km 2 | |
| Residents | 777 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 33 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 12800 | |
| INSEE code | 12262 | |
| Website | www.sauveterre.free.fr | |
 Marketplace |
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Sauveterre-de-Rouergue is a French commune of the department of Aveyron in the region Occitania . Administratively it is assigned to the canton of Ceor-Ségala and the Arrondissement of Villefranche-de-Rouergue .
The village has been classified as one of the Plus beaux villages de France ( Most Beautiful Villages in France ) since 1982 . The layout of the former bastide from 1281 has been preserved to this day.
geography
The place with 777 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is located in one of the southwestern foothills of the Massif Central on the Plateau Ségala in the historic province of Rouergue about 35 kilometers southwest of Rodez . The Lieux de Villelongue river runs along the western municipal boundary .
In the southern and central plateau of Ségala, gneiss and mica schist dominate , this is reflected in the old houses in Sauveterre. The stones are only roughly hewn, because the rock tends to fall apart in small chunks when force is applied.
Agriculture
The stony, eroded and siliceous soils are unsuitable for intensive agriculture without special measures, and without cultivation a heathland is created . The occasional karst springs led to the formation of scattered settlements in the region . The residents managed to grow sweet chestnuts early on , which were a starchy staple food. Of the cereal types, only rye (French: Seigle ), which gave the plateau Ségala its name, could become indigenous. Less out of enthusiasm, but out of sheer necessity, the population also began growing potatoes from the 18th century . With the arrival of the railroad in the 19th century, large amounts of lime could be brought in. This made it possible to neutralize the acidic soils, which from then on allowed intensive agriculture. But after this quickly led to an overuse of the unstable heathland, the regional population specialized in rearing cattle .
history
middle Ages
The word sauveterre is derived from the French term terre sauve ('safe earth'). In the Middle Ages, the so-called Sauveté was an area around a church marked with boundary stones, in which no refugees were allowed to be persecuted.
Sauveterre was founded by Guillaume de Mâcon , Seneschal of Rouergue and representative at the court of King Philip the Bold . In order to demonstrate and consolidate the claim of the French crown in the south of France, a kind of medieval “test-tube town” with a court as well as an administrative, handicraft and trading center was built based on the model of the bastide . In 1280 Philip the Bold reached an agreement with the abbot of Bonnecombe regarding suzerainty over the municipality. Four consuls were appointed to promote the development of the city. A church was built with up to thirty priests. In 1284 Sauveterre was not only granted city rights , but also explicitly market and fair rights. In 1301, a royal edict made the city the seat of a ball that stretched from the banks of the Viaur to the Aveyron River and included twenty-one parishes . In 1319 the construction of the city walls, including the moat and defense towers, was completed. Forty years after it was founded, the Bastide of Sauveterre had reached its greatest extent, then the region was gripped by the turmoil of the Hundred Years War .
In 1362 the fortified town of Sauveterre had to be ceded to the English and could only be bought back in 1369. In the years between 1374 and 1378 and again in 1386, the administration of Rouergue ( États du Rouergue ) had to flee Villefranche-de-Rouergue and seek refuge within the city walls of Sauveterre.
Modern times
After the Hundred Years War, the city recovered and crafts and trade prospered until the 16th century. The community numbered some 200 taxable ( feu fiscal ) artisans, including weavers , cutlers , hatters , tanners and vellum - and fibula manufacturers . About thirty local traders sold the goods by colportage in the region or even supplied large, distant exhibition cities such as Montpellier , Toulouse or Geneva . There were also about twenty lawyers (judges, notaries, lawyers) and about thirty priests. The great majority of the population (presumably up to 90%) were arable citizens ; only a few made it to the butcher or miller. Few families shared the prestigious and lucrative offices and built stately houses around the market square of Sauveterre.
From the middle of the 16th century Sauveterre gradually lost its importance. Thirty cutlers are said to have been active in the city in 1450, but only six in 1556. The city could not compete with the factories that had sprung up all over France . a. therefore not because the region was very poor in raw materials and was not on an important transport axis. Almost no family was spared from the plague that raged in the area in 1628. Many houses were soon no longer inhabited and began to crumble.
Recent history
With the dissolution of the neighboring municipality of Castelnau-Peyralès , Sauveterre was awarded the two rural parishes of Jouels and Albagnac in 1837 , which almost doubled the population from just under 1,000 to almost 2,000. But this also intensified the conflict between the urban and the underprivileged rural population, who were now under the municipality of Sauveterre.
After Sauveterre was temporarily considered the capital of the province and county of Rouergue in the Middle Ages, the new municipality of Baraqueville, created from the former municipalities of Carcenac-Peyralès and Vors , replaced Sauveterre-de-Rouergue on January 1, 1973 as the canton capital. Sauveterre-de-Rouergue lost not only the gendarmerie post , but also other administrative functions. In order to stop the economic decline of the municipality, Sauveterre-de-Rouergue today relies on tourism and handicrafts , with the traditional cutlery (French coutellerie ) being cultivated. Sauveterre knives are often unique and recognizable by their engraving on the blade - a sprig of sage .
coat of arms
Blazon : In gold, a green sprig of sage, the azure shield main equipped with three golden fleurs-de-lis .
Population development
| year | 1936 | 1946 | 1954 | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2009 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 1,152 | 1.107 | 970 | 972 | 964 | 891 | 793 | 888 | 832 | 803 | 810 |
Attractions
- Sauveterre-de-Rouergue is an extraordinarily well-preserved bastide from the late 13th and early 14th centuries with a checkerboard structure. The large market square in the center measures 40 by 60 meters and is lined with arcades. The carefully coordinated illumination of the market square in the evening is enchanting.
- The collegiate and parish church of Collégiale Saint-Christophe has magnificent choir stalls from the 15th century and an altarpiece in the flamboyant style from the beginning of the 17th century. The carved pulpit is dated around 1800.
- The ornate half-timbered houses and the medieval city gates
- The permanent exhibition on local handicrafts in the tourist office
- Numerous boutiques with handicrafts such as knives, hats, belts, lamps, glass and ceramic goods, guitars and tapestry embroidery.
Events
- In July and August there is a large market every Friday evening. Local delicacies are offered, which are also prepared and tasted on site.
- Fête de la Lumière is an evening festival that takes place on the second Saturday in August. The arcades around the market square are illuminated in a “ Bengali ” way.
- In the Fête de la châtaigne end of October, the Maroni hailed -Ernte.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sauveterre-de-Rouergue on Les plus Beaux Villages de France (French)