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

Aude Aude (; ) is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it " Cathar Country" (French: ''Pays cathare'') after a group of religious dissidents active ...

department in the Occitanie

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

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 ...

. It is located in the former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

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 d ...

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 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 fr ...

, about midway along the route from that city to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. 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 conside ...

to which it owed a period of prosperity in the 17th century when agricultural and manufactured produce became easier to export. The ''

Grand Bassin The Grand Bassin is the largest body of open water along the Canal du Midi. It is in Castelnaudary, France and covers some 7 hectares (18 acres). Once a scene of intense economic activity, it is now a major pleasure port used by tourist craf ...

'' 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 s ...

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 crow ...

Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester {{Infobox noble , name = Simon de Montfort , title = 5th Earl of Leicester , image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif , caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...

is besieged in Castelnaudary by the

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundi ...

and the

Count of Foix The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their cour ...

. * 1235. Arrival of the Papal inquisition whose initial attempts to identify and persecute

Cathars Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. F ...

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 Plantag ...

, the town is sacked by the

Black Prince Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...

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 prefectu ...

, 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 ...

and then the

as far as

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

. 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 revol ...

. * 1632. The capture of

Henri II de Montmorency Henri II de Montmorency (1595 – 30 October 1632) was a French nobleman and military commander. Biography Born at Chantilly, Oise, Henri was the son of Henri I de Montmorency and Louise de Budos. He was the godson of Henri IV and was constant ...

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

* 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 Pierre de Castelnau (? - died 15 January 1208), French ecclesiastic, made papal legate in 1199 to address the Cathar heresy, he was subsequently murdered in 1208. Following his death Pope Innocent III beatified him by papal order, excommunicated ...

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 1 ...

(1588-1658), physician to King Louis XIII *

Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil (; c. 1643 – 10 October 1725) was a French military officer who served as Governor General of New France (now Canada and U.S. states of the Mississippi Valley) from 1703 to 1725, throughout Queen ...

(1643–1725) * Joseph Martin-Dauch (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 The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

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 The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

Antoine-François Andréossy Comte Antoine-François Andréossy (6 March 1761 – 10 September 1828) was a Franco-Italian nobleman, who served as a French Army artillery general, diplomat and parliamentarian. Biography Born at Castelnaudary in Aude, scion of an ancient It ...

(1761–1828) *

Antoine Marfan Antoine Bernard-Jean Marfan (; June 23, 1858 – February 11, 1942) was a French paediatrician. He was born in Castelnaudary (département Aude, Languedoc-Roussillon) to Antoine Prosper Marfan and Adélaïde Thuries. He began his medical studie ...

(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 Georges Canguilhem (; ; 4 June 1904 – 11 September 1995) was a French philosopher and physician who specialized in epistemology and the philosophy of science (in particular, biology). Life and work Canguilhem entered the École Normale Supé ...

(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 or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

who specialized in the

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...

Education

École nationale de l'aviation civile École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

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 History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

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 Duck confit (french: confit de canard ) is a French dish made with whole duck. In Gascony, according to the families perpetuating the tradition of duck confit, all the pieces of duck are used to produce the meal. Each part can have a specific ...

, 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 BBC Food is a division of the BBC which controls a recipe website part of BBC Online, an online streaming channel, and a former international commercial television channel focusing on food. Website BBC Food is the public service website whic ...

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