Lamagistère (; oc, La Magistèra) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; oc, Tarn e Garona ) is a department in the Occitania region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name. The area was originally part of the former provinces of Quercy and ...

department 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 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 ...

in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Inhabitants of the district are known as les ''Magistériens''.

Geography

The district is located between the larger towns of

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

and

Castelsarrasin Castelsarrasin (; oc, Los Sarrasins) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in Occitanie region of France. The inhabitants are called ''Castelsarrasinois''. It is the second most populous commune in Tarn-et-Garonne after Montauban. I ...

. The nearest villages are Golfech, Donzac, Clermont-Soubiran, Saint-Urcisse and Saint-Sixte. The

Barguelonne The Barguelonne () is a long river in the Lot (department), Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne and Lot-et-Garonne ''departments of France, départements'', southwestern France. Its source is near Terry, a hamlet in Pern, Lot, Pern. It flows generally southwest. ...

forms all of the commune's south-eastern border, then flows into the

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 – ...

, which forms its southern and south-western borders. The commune, which is approximately 9 km², is composed of a small village and surrounding territory. The

Route nationale A ''route nationale'', or simply ''nationale'', is a class of trunk road in France. They are important roads of national significance which cross broad portions of the French territory, in contrast to departmental or communal roads which serve m ...

N113 (national trunk road), used to run through the middle of the village but was later diverted around the town. In 2006, the French government downgraded some national trunk roads to departmental status roads. The N113 was one such road which was downgraded and now the diverted road is signed as the D813. However the historical designation can still be seen in a street sign in the middle of the village. OldN113SigninLaMagistereVillageFrance

In fact the middle of the village is also a cross roads with the D30, which commences as a bridge over the Garonne River. Lamagistère station, on the Bordeaux-Toulouse line, is located in the middle of the town. The village has a public library and a school but lacks, in 2012, a cinema or museum.

History

During the second world war the district was at the heart of a Franco-American sabotage operation. On the night of 15 to 16 August 1944, a section of the train line running between Bordeaux and Toulouse, which was defended by a garrison of German soldiers, was attacked by a combined force of American commandos, French partisans from Lot and a company of the Armée Secrète of Tarn-et-Garonne.J. Latu
L’opération de sabotages franco-américaine à Lamagistère, 15-16 août 1944
revue Arkheia, n°1, Montauban, 1999.

Demographics

The following table shows the recorded population of the commune according to INSEE.

Political Administration

The following table shows the names of the elected mayors of the commune in recent times and their period of tenure in the post.

Geography

History

Demographics

Political Administration

See also