Arzens () 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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Arzenais'' or ''Arzenaises''.

Geography

Arzens is located in the urban area of

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

some 11 km west of the city. Access to the commune is by road D119 from Carcassonne passing west through the north of the commune and continuing to

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

. Access to the town is by road D38 from Sainte-Eulalie in the north to the town, by road D35 from

Villesèquelande Villesèquelande (; oc, Vilaseca-Landa) is a commune near Carcassonne in the Aude department in southern France. It is noted for the ancient field elm, the Ormeau Sully, allegedly planted by Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully Maximilien ...

in the north-east, and by road D211 from Lavalette in the east which continues to join the D119 in the commune. The D43 road from Montreal in the west to Montclar in the south-east passes through the south of the commune. Road D911 goes south from the town to join the D43 in the commune. The

A61 autoroute The A61 autoroute is a French motorway forming part of the ''Autoroute de Deux Mers''. It is long. It connects Narbonne (and a junction on A9) and Toulouse, where it becomes the A62 towards Bordeaux. It also has junctions with the A64 towards ...

(

European route E80 European route E 80, also known as Trans-European Motorway or TEM, is an A-Class West-East European route, extending from Lisbon, Portugal to Gürbulak, Turkey, on the border with Iran. The road connects 10 countries and has a length ...

) (Autoroute des Deux Mers) passes through the north of the commune but has no exit with the nearest being Exit 22 at Bram in the west or Exit 23 for Carcassonne west to the east. The south of the commune is mostly forest with the rest of the commune farmland and residential area around the town.Google Maps
/ref> Numerous streams rise in the commune and flow north to join 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 ...

which passes east–west north of the commune. From west to east there are the Ruisseau de Saint-Pietre, the Ruisseau de la Mialauque, the Ruisseau de Falga, the Ruisseau d'Aribaud, the Ruisseau de Fontasse, and the Ruisseau du Saut which forms much of the eastern border of the commune.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Twinning

Arzens has twinning associations with: *

Hattenheim Hattenheim is a ''Stadtteil'' in Eltville am Rhein, Hesse, Germany. It lies within the Rheingau wine region. Points of interest * Burg Hattenheim * Eberbach Abbey (Kloster Eberbach) * Schloss Reichartshausen * Steinberg, Kloster Eberbach ...

(Germany) since 1963. *

Fontanile Fontanile ( pms, Fontanij) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Asti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 572 and an area of .All ...

(Italy) since 1980.

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,238 inhabitants. Arzens War Memorial

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

Arzens have several structures that are registered as historical monuments. These are: *Chateau (15th century) Logo monument historique - rouge sans texte

*War Memorial at the Promenade (First World War) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

*Fountain of the Republic in the Place de la Mairie (19th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

Religious heritage

Several structures and objects have been registered as historical monuments. These are: *Monumental Cross (1649) Logo monument historique - rouge sans texte

*Monument to Saint Dominique Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

*Church of Saint-Genès (13th century) Logo monument historique - rouge sans texte

The church contains many objects registered as historical objects. These are: **

Altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

cross (17th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

Reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

Monstrance A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium (or an ostensory), is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharistic Sa ...

of Saint Roch (18th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

**Bronze Bell (16th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

**Incense holder and Thurible (19th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

**Casket for holy oil (18th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

** Ciborium (18th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

** Chalice with

Paten A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium. Western usage In many Western liturgical denominations, the p ...

(18th century) Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

Ministry of Culture, Palissy Arzens is a stage on the

Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...

Notable people linked to the commune

* Jean-François de la Rocque de Roberval, Lord of Arzens (close to

François I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, friend of

François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...

, head of the last expedition by

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French-Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of th ...

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

) *Achille Laugé, born at Arzens in 1861, died at Cailhau in 1944,

pointilist Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...

painter, friend of Aristide Maillol