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The Bazacle is a structure in and on the banks of the River 
The Bazacle is a structure in and on the banks of the River Garonne
The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna
or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...
in the French city of Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
.
It originated as a ford across the river Garonne, used from the 12th century onwards. The name ''bazacle'' comes from the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''vadaculum'', meaning "little ford". The first bridge across the Garonne was built here, where the water was shallowest.
In 1190, with the permission of comte Raymond V of Toulouse
Raymond V ( oc, Ramon; c. 1134 – c. 1194) was Count of Toulouse from 1148 until his death in 1194.
He was the son of Alphonse I of Toulouse and Faydida of Provence. Alphonse took his son with him on the Second Crusade in 1147. When Alpho ...
, a sort of dam, the ''chaussée'', and adjacent mills were built. These mills were cited by Rabelais in the sixteenth century as being the most powerful in the world.
In about 1250, the original undertaking was underwritten by a group of local '' seigneurs'', who shared the profits according to the number of shares they possessed. The shares of this society (the ''Société des Moulins du Bazacle'', or Bazacle Milling Company
The Society of Moulins du Bazacle, also known as Bazacle Company is a French watermill system founded in Toulouse in the 12th century by the citizens of the city to share the operation of a series of mills installed on the site of the Bazacle. The ...
) came to be traded on the open market in Toulouse and their value fluctuated according to the profitability of the mills. The company survived until 1946 when it was nationalized and is sometimes claimed as the earliest example of a Joint-stock company.
A hydroelectric power station was built in 1890 on the same spot to supply Toulouse with electricity. In 1946, Électricité de France bought the plant. Both old and modern turbines can be viewed in working state to this day. There is a fish ladder
A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as move ...
in the river, allowing fish to swim through.
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