Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (; oc, label=
Vivaro-Alpine, Sant Pau de Tricastin), sometimes known as -en-Tricastin, 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 ...
, 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 Tricastini were a small Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Tricastin region, near present-day Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
The Tricastini were probably one of the most ancient Celtic tribes of Gaul. ...
. The insertion of an
epenthetic ''r'' that changed ''Tricastini'' to ''Tricastrini'', which is attested by the 12th century, caused a
semantic 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 ...
, 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, i ...
,
to
Cap d'Agde
Cap d'Agde () is a seaside resort on France's Mediterranean coast. It is located in the commune of Agde, in the Hérault department within the region of Occitanie. Cap d'Agde was planned by architect Jean Le Couteur as part of one of the l ...
.
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
Trecate is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about east of Novara.
It harbors a major refinery complex for fuels and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), servi ...
, Italy (2003)
See also
*
Communes of the Drôme department
The following is a list of the 363 communes of the Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a p ...
*
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral ( 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 located in the town of Saint-Paul ...
*
Tricastin
The Tricastin is a natural and historic region in the southern Rhône valley of southeastern France comprising the southwestern portion of the Drôme department and the northwestern portion of Vaucluse and centered on the modern town of Saint-P ...
*
Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant
The Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant (french: link=no, Centrale Nucléaire du Tricastin) is a nuclear power plant consisting of 4 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) of CP1 type with 915 MW electrical power output each. The power plant is located i ...
References
External links
Picture of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintpaultroischateaux
Communes of Drôme