Narbonne
Narbonne
Narbona ( Sports, des Arts et du Travail sports, arts and work complex; the Espace de Liberté multi-use center; the Via Domitia; the Narbonne train station; Charles Trenet , born in Narbonne; an aerial view of the city center; former church Notre-Dame de Lamourguier, now the Lapidary Museum | |
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Coordinates: 43°11′01″N 3°00′15″E / 43.1836°N 3.0042°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Occitania |
Department | Aude |
Arrondissement | Narbonne |
Canton | Narbonne-1, 2 and 3 |
Intercommunality | Grand Narbonne |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2026) | Bertrand Malquier[1] |
Area 1 | 172.96 km2 (66.78 sq mi) |
Population (2021)[2] | 56,395 |
• Density | 330/km2 (840/sq mi) |
Demonym(s) | Narbonnese (en)[3] narbonnaise (fr) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | 11262 /11100 |
Elevation | 0–285 m (0–935 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Narbonne (
From the 14th century it declined following a change in the course of the river Aude. It is marginally the largest commune in Aude, but the capital of the Aude department is the smaller commune of Carcassonne.
Geography
Narbonne is linked to the nearby
Etymology
The source of the town's original name of Narbo is lost in antiquity, and it may have referred to a hillfort from the Iron Age close to the location of the current settlement or its occupants.[7] The earliest known record of the area comes from the Greek Hecataeus of Miletus in the fifth century BC, who identified it as a Celtic harbor and marketplace at that time, and called its inhabitants the Ναρβαῖοι. In ancient inscriptions the name is sometimes rendered in Latin and sometimes translated into Iberian as Nedhena.[citation needed]
History
Under the Romans
Narbonne was established in
Politically, Narbonne gained importance as a competitor to
Later, the province of Gallia Transalpina was renamed Gallia Narbonensis after the city, which became its capital. Seat of a powerful administration, the city enjoyed economic and architectural expansion. At that point, the city is thought to have had 30,000–50,000 inhabitants, and may have had as many as 100,000.[10]
Under the Visigoths
According to
Under the Arabs
For 40 years, from 719 to 759, Narbonne was part of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Umayyad governor Al-Samh captured Narbonne from the Kingdom of Visigoths in 719.
Under the Carolingians
The
The historian Arthur J. Zuckerman wrote in 1973 the book A Jewish Princedom in Feudal France, presenting the thesis that from the 8th to 10 centuries AD there was a Jewish vassal princedom based in Narbonne, given to the Jews by the Carolingian king Pepin as a gift of gratitude for their cooperation in the Frankish conquest of Narbonne from Al-Andalus in the year 759. This is however controversial, the book having been criticized by other historians.
Under the Capets
In the 11th and 12th centuries, Narbonne was home to an important
Narbonne loses its river and port
Narbonne itself fell into a slow decline in the 14th century, for a variety of reasons. One was due to a change in the course of the river Aude, which caused increased silting of the navigational access. The river, known as the Atax in ancient times, had always had two main courses which split close to Salelles; one fork going south through Narbonne and then to the sea close to the Clappe Massif, the other heading east to the etang at Vendres close to the current mouth of the river well to the east of the city. The Romans had improved the navigability of the river by building a dam near Salelles and also by canalising the river as it passed through its marshy delta to the sea (then as now the canal was known as the Robine.) A major flood in 1320 swept the dam away. The Aude river had a long history of overflowing its banks. When it was a bustling port, the distance from the coast was approximately 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 mi), but at that time the access to the sea was deep enough when the river was in full spate which made communication between port and city unreliable.[contradictory][14] However, goods could easily be transported by land and in shallow barges from the ports (there were several: a main port and forward ports for larger vessels; indeed the navigability from the sea into the étang and then into the river had been a perennial problem)
The changes to the long seashore which resulted from the silting up of the series of graus or openings which were interspersed between the islands which made up the shoreline (St. Martin; St. Lucie) had a more serious impact than the change in course of the river. Other causes of decline were the plague and the raid of
Narbonne Cathedral
Yet the choir, side chapels, sacristy, and courtyard remain intact, and the cathedral, although no longer the seat of a bishop or archbishop, remains the primary place of worship for the Roman Catholic population of the city, and is a major tourist attraction.
Building of the Canal de la Robine
From the sixteenth century, eager to maintain a link to important trade, the people of Narbonne began costly work to the vestiges of the river
In the 19th century, the canal system in the south of France had to compete with an expanding rail network, which could ship goods more quickly. The canals kept some importance as they were used to support the flourishing wine trade.
Despite its decline from Roman times, Narbonne held on to its vital but limited importance as a trading route. This has continued in more recent centuries.
Population
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Source: EHESS[15] and INSEE (1968-2017)[16] |
Sights
- The cathedral dating from 1272
- The Palais des Archevêques, the Archbishop's Palace, and its donjonwith views over Narbonne
- Musée Archeologique, an archaeological museum in the town centre (currently closed - November 2019, most sections will be moved to new museum Narbo Via which is planned to open in September 2020)
- Clos de la Lombarde - an archaeological site presenting the vestiges of Roman townhouses, bath houses, workshops from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD and the first Christian basilica in Narbonne (3rd/4th century AD). Link to website: http://www.amiscloslombarde.fr/ (site in French and English)
- The Roman Horreum, a former grain warehouse, built underground as a cryptoporticus
- Remains of the Via Domitia in the city center
- The canal, Canal de la Robine, running through the centre of the town
- The Halles covered market operates every day. The busiest times are Sunday and Thursday mornings.
- The nearby limestone massif known as La Clape and the beach at Narbonne plage
Sport
Narbonne is home to the rugby union team RC Narbonne founded in 1907. It is an historic team in France, Narbonne have twice won the French first division title and reached a European final in 2001. They play at the Parc des Sports Et de l'Amitié (capacity 12,000). They wear orange and black.
Transport
The
Personalities
- Germanic tribes
- Varro Atacinus, Roman poet
- Saint Sébastien, third-century Christian saint and martyr
- Makhir of Narbonne, medieval Jewish scholar
- Moshe ha-Darshan (11th century), chief of the yeshiva of Narbonne
- Jewish troubadourfrom the city
- Kalonymus ben Todros, (d. ca. 1194) was a Provençal rabbi who flourished at Narbonne in the second half of the twelfth century
- Joseph Barsalou (physician) (1600-1669), apothecary and physician whose family was from Narbonne
- Guillaume Barthez de Marmorières, (1707-1799), civil engineer
- Jean-Joseph Cassanéa De Mondonville, (1711-1772) violinist and composer
- Léon Blum was born in Paris but was elected as Deputy for Narbonne in 1929, re-elected in 1932 and 1936
- Pierre Reverdy, surrealist poet
- Anaïs Napoleón, French-Spanish photographer
- Charles Trenet, singer-songwriter
- Dimitri Szarzewski, rugby player
- World championswimmer
- Ateyaba, French hip-hop artist
- Alexandre Baron, racing driver
- Benjamin Lariche, racing driver
- Rabbinic family of Benveniste
See also
- A Jewish Princedom in Feudal France, a book presenting a thesis that there was a Jewish vassal princedom based in Narbonne in the 8th to 10th centuries AD.
- Bierzo Edict
- Corbières AOC
- Communes of the Aude department
International relations
Narbonne is
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ The forms "Narbonian" and "Narbonensian" are sometimes encountered, particularly in reference to ancient Narbo and Narbonnese Gaul.
- ^ "Narbonne". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ "Narbonne". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021.
- ^ "Narbonne". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ISBN 9781317090700.
- )
- ^ Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat (Anthea Bell, tr.) The History of Food, 2nd ed. 2009:23.
- ISBN 978-0-521-32208-9.
- ^ Burke, Ulick Ralph (1895). A History of Spain from the Earliest Times to the Death of Ferdinand the Catholic. Longmans, Green and Company. p. 65. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ Trigano – The Conventionalism of Social Bonds and the Strategies of Jewish Society in the Thirteenth Century; Byrd – The Jesus Gene: A Messianic Bloodline, the Jews and Freemasonry accessdate=2012-02-16
- ^ "NARBONNE - JewishEncyclopedia.com". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ Mediterranean Beaches and Bluffs: A Bicycle Your France E-guide by Walter Judson Moore, 2015
- ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Narbonne, EHESS (in French).
- ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- ^ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ^ Salford City Council. "Salford's twin towns". Salford.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2008.
- Michel Gayraud, Narbonne antique des origines à la fin du IIIe siècle. Paris: De Boccard, Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise, Supplément 8, 1981, 591 p.
- Histoire de Narbonne, Jacques Michaud and André Cabanis, eds, Toulouse: Privat, 2004.
- L’Aude de la préhistoire à nos jours (under the direction of Jacques Crémadeilis), Saint-Jean-d’Angély, 1989.
- Les Audois : dictionnaire biographique, Rémy Cazals et Daniel Fabre, eds., Carcassonne, Association des Amis des Archives de l’Aude, Société d’Études Scientifiques de l’Aude, 1990.
Further reading
- "Narbonne", A Handbook for Travellers in France (8th ed.), London: J. Murray, 1861, OL 24627024M
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 237. .
- "Narbonne", Southern France, including Corsica (6th ed.), Leipzig: Baedeker, 1914, OL 24364670M
- Narbonne on The Jewish Encyclopedia
External links
- Official website (in French)
- 3D stone from Roman era(in English)