Bages, Aude
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Bages (; ) is a commune in the
Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...
department in the Occitanie region of southern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.


Geography

Bages is located in the urban area of
Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; 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 Mediterranean Sea and was ...
on the Canal de la Robine and the ''Étang de Bages-Sigean'' (Bages-Sigean Lake) some 6 km south-west of Narbonne and 9 km north of Portel-des-Corbières. Access to the commune is by the D6009 road from Narbonne which passes through the centre of the commune and continues south to
Salses-le-Château Salses-le-Château (; ; ) or just Salses is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. It is located north of the city of Perpignan. Geography Salses-le-Château is located i ...
. Access to the village in the east of the commune is by road D105 which branches from the D6009 just north of the commune and goes to the village before continuing south to
Peyriac-de-Mer Peyriac-de-Mer (, literally ''Peyriac of Sea''; ) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also * Corbières AOC * Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 Communes of France, com ...
. The
A9 autoroute The A9 autoroute (''La Languedocienne''/''La Catalane'') is a motorway in Southern France. The road forms part of the European route E15, as does the A9 road (Scotland). The road runs between Orange and Perthus, in the Pyrénées-Orientales ...
passes through the commune from north to south but has no exit in the commune. The nearest exit is Exit some 4 km north of the commune which links to the D6009. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Les Pesquis, Domaine de Java, and Prat de Cest.Google Maps
/ref> The Étang de Bages-Sigean forms the entire eastern border of the commune with numerous streams flowing from the commune into it such as the ''Ruisseau Mairal'', the ''Ruisseau de Boutoubouli'', and the ''Ruisseau des Potences''. A smaller Lake - the ''Étang de Saint-Paul'' - is on the southern border of the commune linked to the much larger Étang de Bages-Sigean with a dam forming the border of the commune.


Neighbouring communes and villages

Géoportail
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History

The origins of the site of the present commune date back to
prehistoric times Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
. According to historians tools found in Bages attest the presence of man from the
Lower Paleolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...
(80,000 years ago). Undoubtedly
Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
then
Cro-Magnon Cro-Magnons or European early modern humans (EEMH) were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They in ...
men stayed on the shores of the Narbonne Gulf (sea at the time). The discovery of Neolithic sites proves the existence of significant human communities at that time. It was under Roman occupation that a real settlement emerged. Many plots of land were distributed to senior army veterans and there were numerous luxurious ''villae''. The origin of the current name is thought to have come from this period: ''BAÏA'' or ''BAÏES'' in Latin meaning "place of pleasure". Few traces remain of this period and they are often covered by vegetation. The most important are those of "Castellas" and "Monadières" - important ''Villae'' from the beginning of that era. The population of the time left the flat areas to shelter from the wind by moving to the rocky outcrop seen today. This was a slightly dominant defensive position but also the climate and exposure allowed them to live without encroaching on arable land. The ''Cadran Solaire'' (Sundial) (11th century ) marks the entrance of the old village. A corner of the Lake can be seen from the narrow and steep streets. The village of Bages is on the edge of the lake although agriculture, especially the vineyards, forms the core of its economy (the main square of the village dates to the Revolt of the Winemakers in 1907). Bages village is mostly considered as a fishing village.


Heraldry


Administration

List of Successive
Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...


Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bageois'' or ''Bageoises'' in French.


Economy

Art is prominent in the commune with Painters, sculptors, visual artists, musicians, storytellers, and cabinet makers drawing inspiration. There are four permanent Art galleries: ''La Maison des Arts'' , ''L'Etang Art'' (which also has publishing activity through ''Les Temps d'Art Graphique''), ''Latuvu'' and ''NullepArt''. The commune is in the zone of the ''Vin de pays des Coteaux du Littoral Audois'' (Local wine of Coteaux du Littoral Audois) In the fishing village the main produce is
eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
which is prepared in
bouillabaisse Bouillabaisse ( , , ; ) is a traditional Cuisine of Provence, Provençal fish soup originating in the port city of Marseille. The word is originally a compound of the two Provençal verbs ('to boiling, boil') and ('to reduce heat', i.e. 'sim ...
style.


Culture and heritage


Civil heritage

*The Monument of the Republic in the Place de Juin 1907 (1888) is registered as an historical object.


Religious heritage

The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects: *A Statue: Saint Delphine of Sabran (19th century) *2 Statues: Saints Martin of Tours and Paul of Narbonne *A Painting: Christ on the cross between Saints Paul of Narbonne and Martin of Tours (17th century) *A
Thurible A thurible (via Old French from -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... from incense burner suspended from chains, in which incense">Medieval Latin ) i ...
(19th century)Ministry of Culture, Palissy


Notable people linked to the commune

*Pierre Dumayet (1923-2011), writer, journalist, scriptwriter, and French producer, was buried in the cemetery at Bages. * Gianfredo Camesi, Swiss artist who lived in Bages in 1975. *
Jean-Pierre Serre Jean-Pierre Serre (; born 15 September 1926) is a French mathematician who has made contributions to algebraic topology, algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1954, the Wolf Prize in 2000 and the inau ...
, mathematician who was born in Bages. * Pierrette Bloch, artist who had a second home in Bages. * Jean-Michel Meurice, painter who lives in Bages, cofounder of ARTE. * Matias Spescha, paintre, sculpteur, graveur suisse who lived in Bages.


See also

*
Corbières AOC Corbières () is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine in the Languedoc-Roussillon, France, and it is this region's largest AOC, responsible for 46 per cent of the region's AOC wine production in 2005. Red wine dominates the prod ...
*
Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 Communes of France, communes of the Aude Departments of France, department of France. The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2025):


References


Bibliography

*Jean Guiffan, ''History of Bages and its inhabitants'', Éditions Élysiques, 2007, 233 pages, paperback, ,


External links


''Bages'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Aude