In 1831, the population of Castres was 12,032, making it the largest town of the department of Tarn. One of the few industrial towns in the region ofAlbigeois, the population of thecommune proper grew to 19,483 in 1901, and 34,126 by 1954. However, with the decline of its industries, population growth diminished.Albi surpassed Castres as the most populous metropolitan area of Tarn. The population of Castres reached its peak in 1975, after that it has been decreasing slowly.[4] Castres is the centre of afunctional urban area with 104,695 inhabitants (2019).
Castres is located at an altitude of 172 metres (564 feet)above sea level. It is located 45 km (28 mi) south-southeast ofAlbi, thepréfecture (capital) of Tarn, and 79 km (49 mi) east ofToulouse, the capital ofOccitania. Castres is intersected from north to south by the riversAgout andDurenque.
TheThoré forms most of the commune's south-eastern border, then flows into the Agout, which forms part of its western border.
Between 1790 and 1797 Castres was the prefecture of Tarn.
Since 2001, the mayor of Castres has beenPascal Bugis (right, member ofUMP), who defeated the thensocialist mayor in the 2001 election after a campaign focused on the bad records of the socialist mayor on fighting crime, and the high level of insecurity in the town.
Castres has teamed up with the nearby town ofMazamet (22 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of Castres) and the independent suburbs and villages in between to create thecommunauté d'agglomération deCastres Mazamet, which was established in December 1999.[6] Thecommunauté d'agglomération groups 14 independentcommunes (including Castres and Mazamet), with a total population of 78,101 inhabitants (2018), 54% of these living in the commune of Castres proper, 13% in the commune of Mazamet, and the rest in the communes in between.[7]
Thecommunauté d'agglomération was created in order to better coordinate transport, infrastructure, housing, and economic policies between the communes of the area. The current president of thecommunauté d'agglomération is Pascal Bugis, mayor of Castres.[6]
Map showing Castres and the surrounding region, 1638.
The name of the town comes fromLatincastrum, and means "fortified place". Castres grew up round theBenedictineabbey of Saint Benoît, which is believed to have been founded in AD 647, possibly on the site of an old Roman fort (castrum). Castres became an important stop on the internationalpilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain because its abbey-church, built in the 9th century, was keeping therelics ofSaint Vincent, the renownedmartyr of Spain. It was a place of some importance as early as the 12th century, and ranked as the second town of theAlbigeois behindAlbi. Despite the decline of its abbey, which in 1074 came under the authority of Saint Victor abbey inMarseille, Castres was granted a liberal charter in the 12th century by the famousTrencavel family, viscounts of Albi. Resulting from the charter, Castres was ruled by a college of consuls.
During theAlbigensian Crusade it surrendered of its own accord toSimon de Montfort, and thus entered into the kingdom of France in 1229. In 1317,Pope John XXII established thebishopric of Castres. In 1356, the town of Castres was raised to a countship by KingJohn II of France. However, the town greatly suffered from theBlack Plague in 1347-1348, then from theBlack Prince of England and theFree Companies (bands of lawless mercenaries) who laid waste the country during theHundred Years' War. Consequently, by the late 14th century Castres entered a period of sharp decline. In 1375, there were only 4,000 inhabitants left in town, only half the figure from a century before. Following the confiscation of the possessions ofJacques d'Armagnac, duke of Nemours, to which the countship of Castres had passed, it was bestowed in 1476 by KingLouis XI onBoffille de Juge (Boffillo del Giudice), an Italian nobleman and adventurer serving as a diplomat for Louis XI, but the appointment led to so much disagreement (family feud between Boffille de Juge, his only daughter, and his brother-in-law) that the countship was united to the crown by KingFrancis I in 1519.
Around 1560, the majority of the population of Castres converted to Protestantism. In the wars of the latter part of the 16th century the inhabitants sided with theProtestant party, fortified the town, and established an independent republic. Castres was one of the largest Protestant strongholds in southern France, along withMontauban andLa Rochelle. Henry of Navarre, leader of the Protestant party, who later became KingHenry IV of France, stayed in Castres in 1585. The Protestants of Castres were brought to terms, however, by KingLouis XIII in 1629, andRichelieu came himself to Castres to have its fortifications dismantled. Nonetheless, after these religious wars, the town, now in peace, enjoyed a period of rapid expansion. Business and traditional commercial activities revived, in particular fur and leather-dressing, tanning, and above all wool trade. Culture flourished anew, with the founding of the Academy of Castres in 1648. Castres was turned by the Catholic Church into an active center ofCounter-Reformation, with the establishments of several convents in town, and the building of thePalace of the Bishops of Castres by Monsignor Tubœuf, still the most famous monument in town today, completed in 1673.[8]
A new cathedral was also built, after the destructions of the religious wars. Perhaps even more important, Castres was made the seat of theChambre de l'Édit of the Parliament ofToulouse, a court of justice detached from the Parliament ofToulouse and in charge of dealing with the cases involving the Protestants ofLanguedoc, a measure of protection granted to them by theEdict of Nantes. This court attracted much business to Castres. In 1665, there were 7,000 inhabitants in Castres, 4,000 of whom Catholic, and 3,000 Protestant.
In 1670 however, theChambre de l'Édit was transferred toCastelnaudary, much to the discontent of even the catholic citizens of Castres, who lost a major source of business and revenue with the departure of the lawyers and the plaintiffs. TheRevocation of the Edict of Nantes soon followed, and Castres suffered greatly when many Protestants chose to go into exile. Then came the plague of 1720-1721 and the fire of 1724. Last but not least, Castres lost its liberal charter in 1758. In the 1760s, a few years after the famousCalas Affair inToulouse, Castres made the headlines nationwide:Pierre-Paul Sirven and his wife, both Protestants, were wrongly accused of having murdered their daughter in order to prevent her from converting to Catholicism. Tried and sentenced to deathin absentia on March 29, 1764, they were defended byVoltaire, and eventually exonerated in 1771.
The outbreak of theFrench Revolution was generally welcomed in Castres, particularly among the local Protestant merchants and entrepreneurs, but the majority of the population remained moderate during the whole period. In 1793 for instance, Protestant pastor Alba La Source, Castres' representative at theConvention in Paris, opposed the deportation of "non-juror" Catholic priests toFrench Guiana, where death in the horrid jungle was certain (seeCivil Constitution of the Clergy). "Non-juror" priests were by far the majority in the region of Castres. Accused of being a moderate, Alba La Source wasguillotined in October 1793. Suspected of being lukewarm toward the revolution, Castres was duly chastised. The bishopric which had been established byPope John XXII in 1317 was abolished, Castres later becoming part of thebishopric of Albi. Capital of thedépartement of Tarn in 1790, the town was downgraded to capital of anarrondissement in 1797, Albi being made the capital of thedépartement.
Despite these setbacks, in the 19th century the economy of Castres developed greatly, and the town grew outside of its old medieval center. As early as 1815, the first mechanized wool mill was set up in town. Originally specialized in luxury cloth, the Castres textile industry then turned toward more ordinary types of cloth, whose markets were considerably larger. Around 1860, there were 50 wool mills in town, employing 3,000 people. In the end of the 19th century, mechanical engineering industries appeared beside the textile industry, which led to Castres becoming a major arsenal for the French army during theFirst World War. Castres was linked to the French railway network in 1865. At the end of the 19th century, Castres was the largest town in thedépartement of Tarn, with 5,000 more inhabitants than Albi.
However, in the 20th century the town entered a new period of decline. Although Castres emerged from the two world wars unscathed, no military operations or combats taking place in southwest France, the local economy has been hard hit by change. Like so many towns and cities of Europe which had benefited most from theIndustrial Revolution, Castres is experiencing a difficult restructuring of its industrial base. Textile has particularly suffered. Castres is also crippled by its geographical location, isolated in a dead end at the foot of theMassif Central mountains, away from the main exchange and transport routes. Castres is still not connected to the motorway (freeway) network of France, the only town of that size in France not yet connected. The creation of theGreater Castres-Mazamet Council in 2000 was expected to deal with the transport problem, and to work on attracting new industries. The good fortune of Castres is to be located only 79 kilometres (49 mi) away from the very dynamicToulouse. The long-promised motorway link with Toulouse is due to be completed soon, and Castres hopes to benefit from its proximity with the big Occitan city.
In the Laden-Petit-Train district. Demolition of the apartment block located on Boulevard Albert 1er will begin on September 19, 2025. New housing, including single-family homes, and a new road will be built.[9]
The principal industries are mechanical and electrical engineering, machine tools, wooden furniture, granite, textile, fur and leather-dressing, tanning, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and selective breeding of cows.
Traditional and polluting industries such as textile, tanning, fur and leather-dressing, or chemicals, are in sharp decline. However, a multinational pharmaceutical group (Pierre Fabre Group) emerged in the town in the 1960s, and it has kept its headquarters and R&D division in the metropolitan area, helping to counterbalance the general decline in industry. Some now accuse its founder and president, Pierre Fabre, of being the real "master" of Castres, making and designating Castres' mayors at will.
Castres is the hometown ofsocialist politician and newspaper publisherJean Jaurès (1859–1914), who was murdered in Paris the day before the start of theFirst World War.
MathematicianPierre de Fermat died in Castres in 1665, while attending a session of theChambre de l'Édit there.
French writerRoger Peyrefitte was born into a wealthy family of Castres in 1907.
Castres is intersected from north to south by the riverAgout. The river is fringed by old houses the upper stories of which project over its waters.
Cathedral of Saint Benoît in Castres
Thechurch of Saint Benoît, once the cathedral of Castres, and the most important of the churches of Castres today, dates only from the 17th and 18th centuries. The city hall occupies the former bishop's palace, designed in the 17th century byJules Hardouin-Mansart (the architect ofVersailles), and with gardens designed byAndré Le Nôtre (the designer of the gardens in Versailles). TheRomanesque tower beside it (Tour Saint Benoît) is the only survival of the old Benedictine abbey. The town possesses some old mansions from the 16th and 17th century, including theHôtel de Nayrac, of theRenaissance.
Castres possesses the renownedGoya Museum, created in 1840, which contains the largest collection of Spanish paintings in France. A Jaurès Museum was also opened in 1954 in the house whereJean Jaurès was born in 1859.
As one might expect of a town of westernOccitania nicknamedOvalie, the main sport in Castres isrugby union, followed religiously by many locals. The local professional club isCastres Olympique, who are five-time champions of France (in 1949, 1950, 1993, 2013 and 2018).Castres Olympique was the property of local tycoonPierre Fabre, founder and president ofPierre Fabre Group.
.svg)
_Hotel_de_ville_et_mus%25C3%25A9e.JPG)
