^1 French Land Register data, which excludeestuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2
Aude (/oʊd/OHD;French:[od]ⓘ;Occitan:[ˈawðe]) is adepartment in southern France, located inOccitania and named after the riverAude.[3] The departmental council also calls it "Cathar Country" (French:Pays cathare) after a group of religious dissidents active in the 12th to 14th centuries.
Each natural region of the Aude has its own particular landscape. In the east, lagoons or coastal lakes separate land and sea. These were formed by accumulations of sediments carried down by the rivers Aude,Orb andHérault. There are many such lakes of brackish water. This environment is demanding for flora and fauna, as it suffers from the rigours of sea, sun, dryness and floods.Halophile (i.e., salt-loving) plants grow there. The area is also noted for the pinkflamingo and the whitestilt.
Inland to the west,shrub andscrub dominate the landscape of the drylands of the Aude and theCorbières Massif. This landscape is the result of forest clearance, maintained by the raising of livestock. The flora is varied and characterized by many species oforchids. The Sault countryside is dominated bybeech groves andfir plantations up to the mountains. These forests are known for theirmushrooms, and have a rich flora and fauna, including thePyrenean lily, theeuproctis moth andhorsetail of the woods.
To the north and west, the Black Mountain country is made up of forests ofoak andbeech. The Lauragais is a wooded landscape where grain farming has shaped the hills. There are bodies of water like theLac de la Ganguise. Finally, the high valley of the Aude, otherwise called the Razès, consists of ariparian forest made of beech,alder,poplar orash. It includes somepeatlands that are very rare in southern France.
The landscapes of Aude can be explained by its geology. In the south, there aresedimentary rocks folded during the formation of the Pyrenees. To the north and centre of Aude, the sedimentary rocks are less folded. At the extreme east, near the Mediterranean, the rocks are carved by normal collapsefaults which are due to the opening of the Golfe du Lion. The limestoneMassif de la Clape runs along the entire coast from Gruissan to Saint-Pierre-la-Mer, and has to be crossed to go from Narbonne to Narbonne-Plage.
In the north, the Black Mountain and Minervois consist ofschist andmarble, forming the southern edge of theMassif Central. These ancient rocks are over 300 million years old and were deformed by the formation of theHercynian chain. The Montagne d'Alaric (Alaric's Mountain)[5] near Carcassonne is anantiform fold in the shape of a vault and made oflimestone.
Lightning during an autumn storm off the coast ofPort-la-Nouvelle.
Aude is under the influence of a Mediterranean climate.
The autumn is characterized by violent and short storms.The summer is often hot and dry, which is favorable to the culture of the vine and the olive-trees. Yet, the department has several contrasts in climate:In the north, the Montagne Noire and, in the south, the Pays de Sault, have a mountainous climate with temperatures sometimes very low in winter.In the west, the climate is under Aquitaine influence with heavier precipitation, while in the east the climate is purely Mediterranean.In the centre, in the Limouxin, Carcassonnais and Razès areas, the climate is known as intermediary with significant exposure to winds.The winds are often present in Aude. It is one of the windiest French departments, with 300 to 350 days of wind per year. This phenomenon is due mostly to the variations in relief north and south which create a kind of corridor.
In the north-west blows theCers, called Tramontane in Provence, which is a ground wind. It is a dry, somewhat violent wind and cold in winter. In the south-east blows the Autan, locally called theMarin, which is hot and wet and comes from the sea.
These regular winds made it possible to install an industrial park ofwind turbines, as in the area of Avignonet-Lauragais.
Comparison of local Meteorological data with other cities in France[6]
The drainage system of Aude is dominated by its river of the same name. The river rises at the Roc d'Aude and passes through theMatemale andPuyvalador dams on theCapcir plateau at 1500m, then crosses the department from south to north across Axat, Limoux, and Quillan following the upper valley of the Aude. At Carcassonne, the river changes direction toward the Mediterranean Sea to the east, where it empties nearFleury.
The most populous commune isNarbonne; the prefectureCarcassonne is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:[4]
Hammers and worked tools have been found on the hill of Grazailles at Carcassonne, dating from between 690,000 and 300,000 years ago. Most interesting is the skull ofTautavel Man, discovered in 1971 byHenry de Lumley in the commune ofTautavel in thePyrénées-Orientales department.[8] It is the oldest-known skull in Europe. It dates from about 450,000 years BC. It is likely that Tautavel Man lived in all of this region.
TheRomans, led by the consul-generalDomitius Ahenobarbus, first occupied theoppidum of Montlaurès in 118 BC, a few kilometres to the north ofNarbonne. This became the provincial capital and a very active mercantile port. The position was strategically important since it stood at the crossroads of twoRoman roads, theVia Aquitania and theVia Domitia, as well as by the sea near the mouth of the riverAude.Carcassonne became Latin in 30 BC with the creation of numerous grain farms. For almost two centuries, Aude enjoyed peace and strong economic growth.
TheVisigoths invaded the area in 435 AD at a time whenFlavius Aetius, the Roman senator, was busy suppressing theBagaudes, who were brigands or lawless types in central and northern Gaul. Roman authority was restored until 462. In 507, the victory ofClovis I at thebattle of Vouillé permitted him to conquerToulouse andAquitaine. However, he could not recover the Aude territory, which, thanks to the help of the King of theOstrogoths, remained in the hands of the Visigoths. His troops defeated Clovis's son in 508. The region was part ofSeptimania, so called because it was composed of sevenbishoprics that the Visigoth kings had established there:Elne,Agde,Narbonne,Lodève,Béziers,Maguelonne, andNîmes. Septimania covered the Aude but also the whole region of Languedoc-Roussillon.
In 817,Louis le Débonnaire detached Carcassès andRazès from Septimania to reunite them with the marquisate ofToulouse and the kingdom ofAquitaine. The first Count of Carcassonne was Oliba from the family of theCounts of Barcelona. He established himself in 819. Razès was another county that was formed by an archbishop of Narbonne who had been chased from his town by theSaracens. He had transferred his episcopal seat to Razès and had procured the honours of the feudal title for the area. Narbonne formed a third county. Thus, in the ninth century, the département of Aude consisted of three counties: Carcassonne, Razès and Narbonne. In 880, theCounty of Razès was united by marriage to that of Carcassonne, never to be separated.
In the 13th century, the region saw the development ofCatharism: adualistic Christian sect with similarities toGnosticism. This religion was very quickly judged as heretical by theCatholic Church. Faced with its growing strength in the counties of Carcassonne and Toulouse,Pope Innocent III in 1209 declared acrusade against theAlbigensians. The barons of the north united to form an army under the command ofSimon de Montfort. Whereas the count of ToulouseRaymond VI received absolution, the Count of Carcassonne confronted the army alone. The city of Carcassonne became the refuge of numerous Cathars.
The Protestant crisis and economic expansion of the department
In 1561, religious troubles again arose atCarcassonne in the form of a Protestant crisis. DukeHenri I de Montmorency, the Governor of theLanguedoc, joined theReformed side in 1574. On the Catholic side, the DukeAnne de Joyeuse became head of the Catholic League. In September 1632,Henri II de Montmorency fought against the royal troops at the Battle ofCastelnaudary and was defeated. He was condemned to death and executed at Toulouse.
The present department is one of the original 83 departments created by theConstituent Assembly during theFrench Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of theformer province ofLanguedoc.Administrative divisions were amended by the Act of 28Pluviôse of Year 8, which created four arrondissements (reduced to three by PremierRaymond Poincaré in 1926) and reduced the number of cantons from 45 to 31.
The Aude enjoyed strong wine production whilst at the same time the grain farmers ofLauragais faced great difficulties. However, the department suffered from overproduction and a slump in sales of wine. In 1907 the crisis produced awinemakers' revolt. This led to the establishment of manyWinemaking cooperatives in Aude from 1909.
Aude is an agricultural area dominated by vineyards. In the east are the wines ofCorbieres andLa Clape, in the centre areMinervois and Côtes de Malepère, and in the southLimoux wine. InLauragais grain is predominant, whereas in theMontagne Noire onlysheep farming is possible. More recently there has been an increase in cultivation ofolive trees for their oil.
Port-la-Nouvelle is the biggest fishing port in the department followed byGruissan. In 1996 there were 127 vessels in Aude including 75 in Port-la-Nouvelle and 52 in Gruissan.[10] These vessels were as follows:
small craft: 106 including 54 in Port-La-Nouvelle and 52 in Gruissan
Small craft are recreational boats such as dinghies with one man fishing a lake or motor launches with up to three people fishing in coastal waters. About 85% of small craft are intended for lake fishing as in theÉtang de Thau.
Viticulture is the main economic activity of the department due to its rich and varied soils. It was the Greeks who established vineyards in Aude and the Romans who determined the rights of exploitation. The first vines were planted inMinervois in the 1st century.
But the grapes and wines were not consumer products or self-sufficient for many years. Cereals and olive trees dominated the fertile plains of Aude. It was at the beginning of the 19th century that the wine industry developed in Aude and the rest of Languedoc-Roussillon. Wine then became a consumer product. Higher output was needed and vineyards replaced cereals on the plains. There was an initial period of prosperity to 1850 beforephylloxera appeared towards 1870. At the end of the 19th century, Aude experienced a second period of prosperity but there was a wine crisis triggered in 1901 because of over-production, fraud, and slumping sales. It reached its peak during the winemakers revolt in 1907. The wine growers regrouped themselves intowinemaking cooperatives to prevent fraud and deception. In 1919 then in 1935, a law ofAOC was adopted under the leadership of Jean Capus. TheINAO was set up as a body to control the application of the new laws.
After theSecond World War, the vineyards were revitalized and the region saw a mass of viticulture. The wine was produced in large quantities and satisfied a very demanding population. The product was supplied in large quantities at very low prices. In 1970 the market evolved replacing demand for quantity with demand for quality and causing a second wine crisis. Many events, negotiations, and attacks paralyzed the region and the economy. Emile Pouytès and the CRS Joel le Gof died atMontredon-des-Corbières on 4 March 1976 during this crisis. A large change in the Aude viticulture business started with a reorganization of the profession and the wine-growing region. Quality had to become the mark of wine from Aude.
The rich and varied soil of Aude together with abundant sunshine enables Aude to produce quality wines. Many wines emanate from the department, ranging in quality fromtable wines toAOCs, passing throughvins de pays andVDQS.
Industrial activity is strong in the upper valley of the Aude. It has been especially prominent aroundLimoux since the late nineteenth century; and theLafarge brick plant there is still booming.
Since the 1970s, however, the Aude has seen a rapid decline in its traditional industries such as shoe and hat making. More recent activity is mostly centred aroundNarbonne, particularlydock facilities andoil depots inPort-la-Nouvelle.
From 1889, the high valley of Aude became increasingly important in generatinghydroelectric power. Aude was the first department in France to transmit such power, from its plants atAlet-les-Bains andQuillan. Joachim Estrade established the first electricity company in France, the Southern Power Transmission Company (SMTF), in 1901. Its plant atAxat-Saint-Georges supplied the cities of Carcassonne and Narbonne at 20kilovolts.
Today Aude is the leading department in France for the number of wind turbines installed. There are 113 in operation. They produce some 91megawatts, which is the domestic electricity consumption of about 100,000 people.[11] With the proliferation of these machines, the prefecture is seeking to establish with stakeholders a charter of good conduct for wind turbines.
Crafts are very well represented in Aude with 14.6% of the population involved. Some 5,400 businesses operating in 250 craft professions achieved in the late 1990s an annual turnover of 3 billion francs (400 million Euros).[12]
The inhabitants of Aude are known asAudois. The 1990 census confirmed a growth in population since the 1960s with about 700 people more per year. This growth is explained by the return of pensioners aged over 60 years to their place of origin and to immigration from the Mediterranean basin.[13]
At the last census, the population of Aude represented 0.5% of the French population and 14.1% of the population of Languedoc-Roussillon. It is predominantly rural with a density of 48 inhabitants per km2, which is slightly less than half the national average. The two main cities, Carcassonne and Narbonne, are medium-sized cities comprising only one third of the inhabitants of the department. In 2017, the department had 370,260 inhabitants.
The rail network follows the same route as the road network. It is a low speed system, but a project is under way to build a fast line to Spain as part of theTrans-European Rail network.
Finally, Aude is crossed by theCanal du Midi which is a major waterway that allows tourists to pass from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. It comes into the west of Aude atSeuil de Naurouze then joins the Mediterranean atSète.
The people of Aude expressedroyalist opinions until the end of theBourbon Restoration. In 1830republican ideas began to develop and made this department a bastion of theleft. This growth is symbolized by two men,Armand Barbès and Theophile Marcou. Armand Barbès is a symbol of the struggle for asocial democratic Republic.
It was in Aude thatFrançois Mitterrand had his highest score in the 1981 presidential election with just over 63% of the vote.
Only affluent coastal areas surroundingNarbonne and the department's prefecture,Carcassonne give consideration to the right.
The President of the Departmental Council is Hélène Sandragné of theSocialist Party.
Aude department in 2008 had 364 primary schools (schools of the first degree) serving 30,771 students.[17] Between 2000 and 2007, primary school enrollment steadily increased from 28,331 students to 30,491 students.[17] At secondary level, the department had 31 colleges and 17 public and private high schools for about 23,000 students in 2006.[17]
TheCarnival of Limoux is an Aude festival which takes place over a period of ten weeks or more. This is one of the longest carnivals in the world. It takes place in the town ofLimoux on the Place de la République every weekend from mid-January to the end of March. It is characterized by bands inPierrot costumes (known asles fécos) accompanied by musicians. In the region around Limoux a major celebration of gastronomy known asToques et Clochers (literally, "Tall Hats & Steeples') organized by the winegrowers from Sieur d'Arques' takes place over the weekend ofPalm Sunday. It permits the sale of a large quantity of wine in order to enhance local patronage.
Aude is the land ofrugby league (rugby à XIII) with the teams of Limoux, Carcassonne and Lézignan among the elite.Puig Aubert (1925–1994) was a famous rugby league player who played with AS Carcassonne. There are numerous amateur rugby league clubs dotted all over the area.
Rugby union (rugby à XV) is also played in Aude. It appeared early in the twentieth century and the US-Quillan club dominated in the late 1920s. Jean Bourrel won the title in 1929 againstLézignan. After the Second World War, the Carcassonne team took the lead. Recently, however, rugby union in the Aude has faced an uphill struggle in a sport that has become both globalized and more professional. The Narbonne team (known as Racing Club Narbonne-Mediterranean) has nevertheless managed to develop in the Pro D2 championship.
Every 15 August, inQuillan, an international cycling competition takes place. This is the oldest of such contests in France.
TheTour de l'Aude is one of the most important female cycling events in the calendar. It generally takes place in May.
Fréginat, a traditional type of fricassee of pork fromCorbières, can be found throughout the department. It is made from pork and pig's liver with a local variety of white beans (Lingots de Castelnaudary) flavoured with garigue herbs. On the coast, eel stew (borrida d’anguilles) is a dish of choice. Finally, thecassoulet of Castelnaudary, made from white beans and sausage, is a typical dish of theLauragais.
Other specialties exist such asoysters fromGruissan andLeucate.Olive oil is also very widespread in the Aude and is a speciality ofBize-Minervois.Cartagena is aliqueur marketed by some manufacturers. Finally, theBlanquette de Limoux is a sparkling white wine popular in the department whose origin dates back to the sixteenth century.
Occitan is spoken in the Aude in its Languedoc variant. The language emerged during theHigh Middle Ages from theLatin used in the south ofGaul.
In Aude, Occitan was rarely used in writing before the 11th century. However, several poets andtroubadours such asRaimon de Miraval used language based on courtly love[clarification needed] in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Occitan was used to draw up local administrative documents. In the 16th century, Occitan was used less than royal French, whose use was made compulsory by the edict ofVillers-Cotterêts in 1539. However, it survived very well among the people until the 19th century, when public schools were established with teaching solely in French.
In the 1970s and the 1980s, new demands were made for the dignity of the language and for its teaching. Occitan speech reached a wider audience and singers likeClaudi Marti,Mans de Brèish, andLa Sauze promoted its use.
It was in Aude that the first Occitan radio station broadcast in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon:Ràdio Lenga (Occitan) at 95.5 FM.
Aude is a tourist department with a rich cultural heritage and varied natural sites. Since the 1990s, the Aude has developed the attractiveness of its territory by focusing on the development of the publicity surroundingCatharism. The Aude has been namedCathar Country by the General Council to mark the authentic and mysterious nature of the department, especially with its manyCathar castles.
Tourism is also promoted through a stock of hotel rooms in all categories of 313,500 beds available year-round. Aude estimates the number of tourist overnight stays to be 17.11 million in 2010 with a turnover of 842 million euros providing 5,800 full-time jobs and 9,500 seasonal jobs.[18]
In a very limited section of the Orbiel Valley the department has had occasional pollution problems because of its abandoned gold mines (with mercury and arsenic).
Limoux lies in the upper Aude valley, 24 km south ofCarcassonne. It is known for its local wine,Blanquette, a sparkling white wine which is said to have been the forerunner of Champagne. Limoux hosts an extensive and varied market each Friday.
Quillan lies 27 km further south in the upper Aude valley and is at the head of the branch railway fromCarcassonne.
Lagrasse stands on theRiver Orbieu and has an 8th-century abbey, two very attractive bridges and an unchanged and very compact and delightful medieval stone village centre.
Leucate is a hilltop village, about 30 km south of Narbonne, which has spread down to the coast where Leucate Plage is a popular beach resort.
TheCorbières Massif forms the central part of the department. This is an area of dissected plateaux and escarpments which form an effective barrier to direct road communication. It is a very attractive and sometimes wild area of steep hills, hidden valleys, woodland and vines, and contains some of the most memorableCathar sites includingQuéribus,Peyrepertuse andVillerouge-Termenès.
TheLauragais, that spreads on both sides of the administrative border between Aude andHaute-Garonne, is a historic and cultural area known since the Middle Ages for its abundant agricultural productions. WithCastelnaudary as a central and major city, this region is also famous for the role it played during theAlbigensian Crusade and for its local heritage:Canal du Midi and its springs, abbeys and churches, castles, disk-shaped steles, dovecotes, windmills, bastides, etc.
Wine production is extensive across Aude, and local chateaux and domaines provide free tastings as well as sales of wine and other local produce. With the decline of some local wine production, local government policy is now to attract more tourists to the area, and to assist with this the Corbières area is now labelled on maps and road signs asCathar country.
The Aude has about fifteenbastides which were built after theTreaty of Meaux in 1229 when the region was attached to theCapetian crown of France. The bastide is a type of town based on a grid created in one building project on a greenfield site. The purpose of such construction was to weaken the local lords and attract people to new economic centres. These bastides came into competition with fortified villages based on ecclesiastical or seigneurial power.Chalabre,Camps-sur-l'Agly and the Bastide Saint-Louis in Carcassonne are examples of bastides in the Aude.
Puilaurens Castle
The department has many castles that have been developed by the General Council of the Aude to stimulate tourism. The fortresses are often located on rocky peaks, such as the castles of Quéribus andLastours, which gave them a strategic position. The city of Carcassonne was the logistical hub of the country at the time of conflict with the Kingdom ofAragon.
Aude has many caves suitable forspeleological exploration. ThePays de Sault consists of one of the largest limestone areas of the Pyrenees. This geology lends itself to the formation of cavities and there are many 'barrencs' (the local name forPit caves). This plateau is home to a cave, the TM71, which is a superb cavity classified as a natural reserve since 1987. This is unique in France.
Other natural cavities of the Aude containconcretions like the Pit cave ofCabrespine, the Aguzou Grotto, and the grotto ofLimousis. The latter contains the largest block ofaragonite yet discovered. In the Massif of Corbières on the plateau of Lacamp there are cavities formed bydetrital rocks (marls,clays andpuddingstone) carved byerosion.
According to INSEE as of 2017[update] 25.4% of available housing in Aude consisted of secondary residences.[19] The following table indicates the main communes in Aude (population more than 2,000) where second homes or occasional residences comprise more than 10% of total housing.[20]
Communes with more than 10% Secondary Residences (2017)
The diversity of the landscape, its authenticity, and the uniqueness of its monuments have attracted many filmmakers. Thus, the city ofCarcassonne has been the setting for many films. The excellent state of preservation of this city offers an outstanding setting for historical films. In 1908 filmmakers abandoned scenery on canvas andLouis Feuillade filmed in front of the city towers for theReturn of the cross,Engagement oath, andEnchanted guitar. In 1924 major films were produced such asLe Miracle des Loups byRaymond Bernard. In 1928 for the two thousandth anniversary of the city of Carcassonne,Jean Renoir madeLe Tournoi dans la cité. In 1965 the city of Carcassonne appeared inThe Sucker byGerard Oury. In 1968The Little Bather byRobert Dhéry (withLouis de Funès andMichel Galabru) shot atCabanes de Fleury (at the mouth of the Aude).
As for the cinema, it is the city of Carcassonne which attracts the greatest painters.Jacques Ourtal [fr] is the one who painted most of the city in trying to depict the city in different eras. Originally fromFontiers-Cabardès, the Aude painterEugène Pech has created paintings of the city many times which are today scattered in various public and private collections. The four eras of the city can still be found in settings for "The City Hall".
Another Aude artist,Marie-Louise Petiet, is known for her transcriptions of scenes of popular life such asLa marchande d'oranges (The Orange Seller) orLa jeune fille aux oies (The young girl and the geese). Several of her works are visible at the Petiet Museum in Limoux.Les blanchisseuses (The Laundresses) depicting a laundry lesson is particularly remarkable and well-known. Finally,Paul Sibra, an expert in landscape-painting, nicknamed "le peintre du Lauragais", produced thousands of paintings and drawings of scenes from or based on the rural life of the people ofLauragais in the 1940s.
Achille Laugé [fr;de;it] (born 1861 in Arzens, died 1944 in Cailhau), misunderstood because of his pointillist technique, was able to show the dawning of spring especially with thebroom andalmond trees in bloom.
The Colours of Aude, André Authier and Jean-Philippe Vidal, PélicanISBN978-2-7191-0630-3(in French)
Aude from prehistory to today, Jacques Crémadeilis, Saint-Jean-d’Angély, 1989, 430 p.(in French)
Aude People: biographical dictionary, Rémy Cazals and Daniel Fabre, Carcassonne, Association des Amis des Archives de l’Aude, Société d’études scientifiques de l’Aude, 1990, 347 p.(in French)
Michel Gayraud,Narbonne ancient origins at the end of the 3rd century. Paris, De Boccard, Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise, Supplément 8, 1981, 591 p.(in French)
History of Narbonne, Jacques Michaud and André Cabanis, Toulouse, Privat, 2004, 330 p.(in French)
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