Tricastin (landscape)
The Tricastin is a historic French landscape on the east side of the Rhone Valley in the south-west of the Drôme department and north-west of the Vaucluse department .
geography
location
The Tricastin lies at heights of approx. 50 to 450 m above sea level. d. The city of Montélimar is located north of Tricastin , while the cities of Orange and Avignon are to the south . To the east, the Avignon enclave of Valréas and the low mountain range of the Baronnies connect .
geology
The Tricastin is also called the “land of the white stone” ( pays de la pierre blanche ), because from a geological point of view it is one of the rare regions of the Rhone Valley whose stone is relatively light. In numerous quarries, especially in Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Saint-Restitut , the stone was still mined until the middle of the 20th century.
Rivers
Apart from the Rhône, there are hardly any rivers in the Tricastin; only the Lez , coming from the northeast, flows south of Bollène into the Rhône.
climate
The Tricastin has a Mediterranean climate with dry summers and strong mistral in winter. Nevertheless, the winters are milder than in the north of the Drôme or in the Ardèche , but about three degrees cooler than in Provence.
history
The Tricastin is the homeland of the Gallic tribe of the Tricastini in the province of Gallia Narbonensis , whose capital Augusta Tricastini is mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his third book. From Augusta Tricastini later, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux , whose medieval name Saint-Paul-en-Tricastin was and got its current name due to a misinterpretation. Because of its location on one of the most important north-south connections in Gaul and France, the Tricastin came into contact with numerous peoples.
economy
Viticulture and agriculture in the Rhône Valley probably go back to the Greeks ; however, both were developed on a large scale by the Romans and other types of fruit were also imported. Wine, olive and fruit growing continued in the Middle Ages and received in the 18th and 19th centuries. Century new impulses through export to other European countries. Truffles have been excavated in the higher elevations around Grignan since ancient times . After the Côteaux du Tricastin wine-growing region was renamed Grignan-les-Adhémar in 2010 , the term Tricastin is best known today for the Tricastin nuclear plant and the associated Tricastin nuclear power plant , which runs through the Donzère-Mondragon Canal from Saint-Paul-Trois -Châteaux are separated.
places
The main places of the tricastin are:
- Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (former capital of the Tricastin)
- Bollène
- Bourg-Saint-Andéol
- Donzère
- Grignan
- La Garde-Adhémar
- Lapalud
- Pierrelatte
- Pont-Saint-Esprit
Only Grignan, to the east, is not near the Rhône river.
Attractions
The low mountain range in the vicinity of Grignan is scenic. Each of the places mentioned has historical buildings, many of which are protected as Monuments historiques . Particularly noteworthy are the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and the Renaissance castle of Grignan.
