Castelnaudary (; oc, Castèlnòu d'Arri) is a commune in the

Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the

Lauragais The Lauragais () is an area of the south-west of France that is south-east of Toulouse. The Lauragais, a former county in the south-west of France, takes its name from the town of Laurac and has a large area. It covers both sides of the Canal du ...

and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital, and of which it is a major producer.

Geography

Castelnaudary is a market town, and the capital of the territory of

. The town is located southeast of Toulouse, about midway along the route from that city to the Mediterranean. This route has been used since at least Roman times, and today carries road, motorway ( A61), rail and canal links. Castelnaudary is the main port of the

Canal du Midi The Canal du Midi (; ) is a long canal in Southern France (french: le Midi). Originally named the ''Canal royal en Languedoc'' (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to ''Canal du Midi'' in 1789, the canal is considere ...

to which it owed a period of prosperity in the 17th century when agricultural and manufactured produce became easier to export. The '' Grand Bassin'' in the town is at 7 ha the largest open area of water in the canal, and is today its major pleasure port.

Castelnaudary station Castelnaudary is a railway station in Castelnaudary, Occitanie, France. The station opened on 22 April 1857 and is on the Bordeaux–Sète line. It is at the southern end of the town, about a 5–10-minute walk from the centre. The station is se ...

has rail connections to Toulouse, Carcassonne and Narbonne.

History

Roman staging post

In Roman times the location of the town was a staging post on the Narbonne-Toulouse road, and called Sostomagus.

Origin of the name

Castelnaudary comes from the Occitan ''Castèlnòu d'Arri'' — Latin translation ''Castellum Novum Arri'' — meaning "Arrius' new castle".

Major events

* 1103. First official mention of a settlement at Castelnaudary. * 1211. During the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

, Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester is besieged in Castelnaudary by the Count of Toulouse and the Count of Foix. * 1235. Arrival of the Papal inquisition whose initial attempts to identify and persecute Cathars were unsuccessful due to the solidarity of the townsfolk. * 31 October 1355. During the

100 Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagene ...

, the town is sacked by the Black Prince who travelling from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, ravaged the weaker towns of

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

and then the

as far as Narbonne. The town was pillaged and the inhabitants massacred. The town's walls were not rebuilt until 10 years later. * 1477. The town becomes the capital of the ''comté'' of

under

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

. * 1632. The capture of Henri II de Montmorency just outside the town leads to his execution at Toulouse on the orders of

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

. * 15 May 1681. Commissioning of the

. * 1754. Construction of L'Ile de la Cybèle. * 1814. Marshal Soult withdraws to the town after the Battle of Toulouse before signing a final surrender at Naurouze.

Population

Its inhabitants are called ''Chauriens''.

Sights

* L'Apothicairerie de l'Hôpital * La Collégiale Saint-Michel * Les Ecluses Saint-Roch * Le Grand Bassin * La Halle aux Grains * L'Ile de la Cybèle. * Le Moulin de Cugarel * La Légion étrangère * Le Présidial * La Chapelle Notre-Dame de Pitié File:MoulindeCugarel.JPG, Moulin de Cugarel File:Castelnaudary canal midi.jpg,

in Castelnaudary

Personalities

Castelnaudary was the birthplace of: * Pierre de Castelnau d. 1208 *

Pierre-Jean Fabre Pierre-Jean Fabre (1588- 9 January 1658) was a French doctor and alchemist. Born in Castelnaudary, France in 1588, he studied medicine in Montpellier, France. He became a practitioner of the iatrochemical medicine of Paracelsus. Beginning in 161 ...

(1588-1658), physician to King Louis XIII * Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil (1643–1725) *

Joseph Martin-Dauch Joseph Martin-Dauch, (26 May 1741 – 5 July 1801) was a French politician who represented Castelnaudary as a member of the Third Estate in the Estates-General of 1789. He is remembered as the only member, of 577 delegates, not to vote in f ...

(1741–1801), the only deputy from the Estates General of the Third Estate known to have signed as 'opposant' from taking the Tennis Court Oath, a major event of the French Revolution of 1789 *

Jean François Aimé Dejean Jean-François Aimé, Count of Dejean (1749–1824), was a French army officer and minister of state in the service of the First French Republic and the First French Empire. Biography Jean-François was born in 1749 in Castelnaudary, Languedoc. He ...

(1749-1824), army officer and minister of state in the service of the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

and the First French Empire * Antoine-François Andréossy (1761–1828) * Antoine Marfan (1858–1942),

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

* Georges Canguilhem (1904–1995),

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

who specialized in the philosophy of science

Education

* École nationale de l'aviation civile

Military base

The

4th Foreign Regiment The 4th Foreign Regiment (french: 4e Régiment étranger, 4e RE) is a training regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. Prior to assuming the main responsibility of training Legion recruits, it was an infantry unit which participated ...

of the French Army has been stationed in Castelnaudary since 1976, and the base is open to the public on 30 April ( Camerone Day) and at Christmas.

Cassoulet

Castelnaudary styles itself ''Capitale Mondiale du Cassoulet'' ("World Capital of Cassoulet") and the apocryphal legend of the genesis of this dish (originally called ''estofat'') relates that it was first served to the defenders of the town during the siege of 1355. The town is home to the
La Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet de Castelnaudary
' ("The Brotherhood of Castelnaudary's cassoulet"), an organization which seeks to promote and preserve the dish and its associated traditions. An annual festival celebrating cassoulet

is held in the last full week of August; the town center is thusly crowded with various versions of the traditional dish on that date. The cassoulet variant favored in this town is based on the local haricot bean (which is the subject of a protected status application). It also includes goose or duck confit, pork, and Toulouse sausage. Traditional peasant versions of the recipe can take two days or more to prepare. The traditional cooking vessel is an eponymous earthenware pot called a " cassole." Rick Stein featured the Castelnaudary cassoulet in an episode of ''Rick Stein's French Odyssey'' and his recipe can be found on the BBC Food website.

References

* *

External links

Castelnaudary
(in French)
Castelnaudary Tourisme
(in French) {{Authority control Communes of Aude Languedoc Aude communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia