Artigat is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region of south-western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Artigat is located some 10 km west by north-west of

Pamiers Pamiers (; ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although it is not t ...

and 14 km south-west of

Saverdun Saverdun (; Languedocien: ''Savardun'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saverdun are called ''Saverdunois'' in French. Name Saverdun gave its name to the former city of Verdun, Que ...

. Access to the commune is by the D919 road from Le Fossat in the north passing through the heart of the commune and the village and continuing south to Pailhès. The D278 road comes from the D26 on the western border of the commune and goes east through the village to join the D36 south-west of Saint-Michel. The D27A also branches from the D919 in the north of the commune and goes east to

Saint-Martin-d'Oydes Saint-Martin-d'Oydes (; Languedocien dialect, Languedocien: ''Sent Martin d'Òidas'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Ariège (department), Ariège Departments of France, department in southwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Sa ...

. Apart from the village there are also the hamlets of Bajou in the north, and Les Lanes east of the village. The commune has extensive forests covering about 40% of the land area with the rest farmland.Google Maps
/ref> The

Lèze The Lèze () is a long river in the Ariège and Haute-Garonne '' départements'', southwestern France. Its source is in La Bastide-de-Sérou. It flows generally north. It is a left tributary of the Ariège into which it flows between Labarthe ...

River flows through the commune from south to north gathering several tributaries including the Ruisseau de Laurens with its many tributaries.

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

Until the French Revolution, the Parish of Artigat (with Bajou), as with those of Pailhès, Lanoux, Castéras, Gabre, Aigues-Juntes,

Montégut-Plantaurel Montégut-Plantaurel (; ) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Geography The Lèze flows through the northwestern part of the commune. History The Chateau de La Hille, was home to Jewish refugee children supporte ...

, Cazeaux, Artix, Saint-Bauzeil, Benagues, Saint-Victor-Rouzaud, Madière, Saint-Michel,

Lescousse Lescousse (; ) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ariège department The following is a list of the 325 communes of the Ariège department of France France, off ...

, and

Esplas Esplas is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ariège department The following is a list of the 325 communes of the Ariège department of France France, officially ...

formed an enclave of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

. They all depended on the Episcopal Diocese of Rieux and the civil diocese of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

while neighbouring communes were part of the

County of Foix The County of Foix (, ; , ; , ) was a medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern ''département'' of Ariège (the western part of Ariège being Cousera ...

. See the

Cassini Map The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Cas ...

. The Parish of Artigat (shown as ''Arugat'' on the

) was certainly the most important parish of this Languedoc enclave. The famous case of

Martin Guerre Martin Guerre (), a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife a ...

took place in Artigat. There was a flood in the autumn of 2006 in Artigat whereupon moat were built in the village.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Artigatois'' or ''Artigatoises'' in French.Le nom des habitants du 09 - Ariège
habitants.fr

Notable people linked to the commune

(c. 1524), Subject of a famous imposture affair which took place in Artigat in the 16th century. * Claude Bergeaud (1960-), French basketball trainer was born in Artigat.

References

{{authority control Communes of Ariège (department)