Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (; oc, label=
Vivaro-Alpine, Sant Pau de Tricastin), sometimes known as -en-Tricastin, is a
commune, an administrative region, in the
Drôme 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 southeastern
France.
Name
The settlement is attested as ''Augusta Tricastinorum'' (1st c. AD), ''Trikastinoi ōn polis Noiomagos'' (2nd c.), ''Sancti Pauli vel Sancti Restituti Trigastinensi'' (993), ''in Tricastrinensi'' (1132), ''civitate Tricastrina'' (1136), ''San Paul'' (ca. 1180), ''Sanctum Paulum Tricastinensem'' (1338), and ''Sainct Pol Trois Chasteaux'' (1545).
The
toponym derives from the name of the ancient Gallic tribe that dwelled in the region, the
Tricastini. The insertion of an
epenthetic ''r'' that changed ''Tricastini'' to ''Tricastrini'', which is attested by the 12th century, caused a
semantic
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
reinterpretation of the name, leading eventually to the
modern French ''Trois-Châteaux'', meaning 'three-castles' (
Latin ''Tria-Castra'').
Population
Sport
It was the start of
stage 16 of the
2011 Tour de France
The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route en ...
, to
Gap, as well as the start city for
stage 13 of the
2012 Tour de France
The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. The Tour consisted of 21 stages, inc ...
,
to
Cap d'Agde.
Twin towns — sister cities
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux is
twinned with:
*
Eltmann
Eltmann () is a town of 5256 inhabitants (in the Haßberge district of Lower Franconia, in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the south bank of the Main river, west of Bamberg. It comprises the town proper, and its outlying districts, Dippach, Eschen ...
, Germany (1975)
*
Trecate, Italy (2003)
See also
*
Communes of the Drôme department
The following is a list of the 363 communes of the Drôme department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):[Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral (French language, French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Paul de Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux'' or ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux'') is a former Roman Catholic church architecture, churc ...]
*
Tricastin
*
Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant
References
External links
Picture of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintpaultroischateaux
Communes of Drôme