Le Truel (; ) is a commune in the

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

department in southern

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 ...

. The village was in the ancient province of

Rouergue Rouergue (; ) is a former province of France, corresponding roughly with the modern department of Aveyron. Its historical capital is Rodez. It is bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Géva ...

where they spoke in the ''rouergat'' patois of

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

Geography

The commune is on the southern edge of the Massif Central. The hamlets to the north have commanding views of the Cevennes and the

Millau Viaduct The Millau Viaduct (, ) is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the Canyon, gorge valley of the Tarn (river), Tarn near (west of) Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region, i ...

, which is to the west. The commune is approached along the D200 which connects it to the

A75 autoroute The A75 is an '' autoroute'' (motorway) in France. Known also as ''la Méridienne'', it is a developmental project aiming to speed up, and reduce the cost of car travel from Paris to the south of France. Apart from the Millau Viaduct, it is fre ...

. The D200 runs alongside the Tarn which has been dammed and provides the power for two hydro-electric generating plants, Jourdanie and Le Pouget.

Economy

The economy is rural and traditionally was based on the raising of sheep to produce milk for sheep cheeses such as

Roquefort Roquefort () is a sheep milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, European Union law, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the na ...

. The agriculture has diversified into the raising of

veal Veal is the meat of Calf (animal), calves, in contrast to the beef from older cattle. Veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any List of cattle breeds, breed; however, most veal comes from young male calves of Dairy cattle, dairy b ...

calves.

Barrage du Truel

The Tarn has been dammed there and electricity is generated by two

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to a ...

s producing 27 KW.Hydroweb Pouget
, French, accessed 2012-09-26

Le Pouget

Adjacent to the Barrage du Truel at 275 metres, is the Le Pouget power station. It is powered by waters from the

Lévézou The Lévézou () is a geographical region in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is an impervious crystalline plateau with an average altitude of around 900m. Its highest point is Mont Seigne (1 128 m). Though its borders are not strictly ...

plateau delivered by

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is of Scots origin, and was inherited from the earlier technology of mill pond ...

s from the

Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat () is a lake in Aveyron, France. At an elevation of 727 m, its surface area is 1.92 km2. It lies in the Communes of France, communes of Villefranche-de-Panat and Alrance. Description The Lac de Villefranche-de-Pa ...

and the

Lac de Saint-Amans Lac de Saint-Amans is an artificial lake in Le Truel, Aveyron, France close to Villefranche-de-Panat, and 500m above the Tarn. At an elevation of 727 m, it has surface area of 0.11 km2. It is captured by the Barrage de Saint-Amans. It is a ...

both at 727 m. Le Pouget delivers 440 MW.

Population

Gallery

File:Le-Truel 0186.JPG, File:Le-Truel 0158.JPG, File:Le-Truel 0160.JPG, File:Le-Truel 0157.JPG, File:Le Truel-December 0685.JPG, File:Le Truel-December 0683.JPG, File:Le Truel-Le Stade de Costecalde 0610.JPG, File:Le Truel-Le Stade de Costecalde 0608.JPG, File:FR-12-Jourdanie.JPG, File:FR-12-Le Truel.JPG, File:Le Truel- Costecalde 0120.JPG, File:Le Truel-Ausblick von Costecalde 0096.JPG, File:Le Truel-Ausblick von Costecalde 0143.JPG, File:Le Truel-Ausblick von Costecalde 0148.JPG, File:Le Truel-Ausblick von Costecalde 0149.JPG, File:Le Truel-December 0672.JPG,

References

Communes of Aveyron Aveyron communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Aveyron-geo-stub