Saint-Girons (; oc, Sent Gironç) 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 Ariège department in southwestern

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 ...

History

Antiquity

Unlike its close neighbour Saint-Lizier, Saint-Girons isn't an ancient city; there was however a '' lucus'' on its present territory where some Roman finds were made during the construction of the train station in the beginning of the twentieth century. Modern-days district ''Le Luc'' is considered to owe its name to this ancient ''lucus''.

Foundation

The city is named after Saint Girons, a saint from fifth-century Landes who evangelized

Novempopulania Novempopulania (Latin for "country of the nine peoples") was one of the provinces created by Diocletian (Roman emperor from 284 to 305) out of Gallia Aquitania, which was also called ''Aquitania Tertia''. Early Roman period The area of Novemp ...

. In the ninth century some of his relics were supposedly buried in Saint Girons' Church, around which the city later developed.

Climate

Saint-Girons has a moderate but warm oceanic climate, that is quite prone to temporary vast extremes in temperature as a result of its inland position.

Population

Inhabitants of Saint-Girons are called ''Saint-Gironnais''. Saint-Girons - Parrat depuis le Sarrach (1)

Saint-Girons - la bellongue vue depuis la pale (1)

Sport

Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour de France finished in Saint-Girons, after travelling 176 km from

Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella french: Andorre-la-Vieille is the capital of the Principality of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital. , the city has a popu ...

. Stage 9 of the

2013 Tour de France The 2013 Tour de France was the 100th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on the island of Corsica on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 21 July. The Tour consisted of twenty-one stages ...

started here.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintgirons Communes of Ariège (department) Subprefectures in France Ariège communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia