Tarbes
| Tarbes | ||
|---|---|---|
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Hautes-Pyrénées ( Prefecture ) | |
| Arrondissement | Tarbes | |
| Canton |
Tarbes-1 (main town) Tarbes-2 (main town) Tarbes-3 (main town) |
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| Community association | Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 14 ′ N , 0 ° 4 ′ E | |
| height | 284-326 m | |
| surface | 15.33 km 2 | |
| Residents | 41,518 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 2,708 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 65000 | |
| INSEE code | 65440 | |
| Website | Tarbes | |
 Tarbes - city center |
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Tarbes is a southern French city in the foothills of the Pyrenees with 41,518 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Occitania region . It is the administrative seat of the Hautes-Pyrénées department
Location and climate
The city of Tarbes lies between the Adour coming from the Pyrenees and its tributary Échez, which runs parallel here about 3 km to the west, at an altitude of about 310 m . Closest cities are Lourdes (approx. 25 km southwest), Pau (approx. 45 km west) and Auch (approx. 70 km northeast); There is also a motorway connection ( A 64 ) to the greater Toulouse area (approx. 160 km northeast). The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 825 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.
Population development
| year | 1800 | 1851 | 1901 | 1954 | 1999 | 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 6,777 | 14.004 | 26,055 | 40,242 | 46.275 | 40,318 | ||
| Sources: Cassini and INSEE | ||||||||
Because of the rural exodus - triggered by the phylloxera crisis in viticulture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - the population of the community rose steadily. In the 1960s to 1980s, the mechanization of agriculture and the associated lack of jobs in rural areas triggered a significant population increase in the city.
economy
In Tarbes there was already a ford (gué) over the Adour in antiquity ; the city was therefore on a trade route and was an important regional trade and economic center with the Adour as a transport connection for flat barges to the port of Bayonne . As the second largest city in the region, the city today benefits from good connections to Toulouse and the industrial companies located there; there are metal processing companies and numerous steel construction companies. Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport, only about 10 km south of Tarbes, offers scheduled flights to Paris several times a day ; Tarmac Aerosave , based here , specializes in aircraft storage, maintenance and scrapping. Furthermore, Tarbes has long been a garrison town of the French army and the seat of the Institut national polytechnique de Toulouse .
history
Tarbes has been the seat of a diocese since the 4th century ; the place is first mentioned in the 5th century under the name Civitas Tarba Ubi Castrum Bigorra . In 840 the Vikings raided the city. In the 12th century the Counts of Bigorre made Tarbes their capital, but inheritance disputes in the 13th century led to a politico-military weakening; which culminated in the King of England coming to power in 1283. In the 15./16. In the 16th century the city consisted of 6 separately fortified settlements (bourgs) . In the time of the Huguenot Wars (1562–1598) the Protestants set the cathedral on fire, but after the Edict of Nantes and even after its revocation by Louis XIV (1685) things started to look better again Revolutionary was raised to the rank of prefecture .
Attractions
Overall, Tarbes is more of a modern city with many buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest (preserved) building is the single-nave cathedral from the 12th to 18th centuries. The reconstructed cloister of Saint-Sever-de-Rustan is located in the park of the Jardin Massey .
Personalities
- Bertrand Barère (1755–1841), revolutionary and politician
- Pierre Chazal (1808-1892), Belgian general
- Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), poet, narrator and critic
- Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929), Marshal in the First World War
Twin cities
- Huesca Spain , since 1964
- Altenkirchen (Westerwald) Germany , since 1972
