In the

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...

region of the south of France, a ''circulade'' is a traditional village that has been built in concentric circles. The center, which one might expect to be the site of a '' château-fort'' or a parish church, is as often as not, empty, as air photography demonstrates.

Origin of the term

The neologism and the concept were proposed in 1992 by Krzysztof Pawlowski, an architect-urban planner of Polish origin specialist of the historic cities, in his work ''Circulades languedociennes de l'an mille''. Though the highly structured ''circulade'' plans were not identified as a unique urbanistic phenomenon until 1992, are medieval in origin, dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, two centuries earlier than the planned ''

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the 13th and 14th centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the first bastides ...

s'' of the region. The '' Larousse'' does not list this

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

for an ancient form of

urbanisation Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It can also ...

, which has been adopted by an association formed to promote these "circular villages"; Jacques Heers included it in this handbook ''La ville au Moyen Age'' (Hachette Pluriel, 1992). An earlier designation, used by geographers, is "round village" as evidenced by Louis Josserand's article, ''Les villages ronds du Razès (

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 " ...

)'', published in the Revue geographic des Pyrénées et du Sud-Ouest in 1931.

Pawlowski's thesis

According to Krzysztof Pawlowski, an architect of Polish extraction working for the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

patrimony section, a medieval circular village is a village whose circle is the basis of all or part of the organization of the parcel system. The essential element of the system called "circulade" would be the succession of rings regularly arranged around the central core in the form of ribbons of terraced houses. Until now, the bastides of the Southwest, cities based on the rectangular pattern, were considered to be the first manifestations of urban creation in the Middle Ages. However, for Krzysztof Pawlowski, in Languedoc the circular model would have formed two centuries before the country houses and would thus have marked the birth of European town planning.

Operation

From 1993, in

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

and

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...

.Dominique Baudreu
''« Circulades » ou la naissance d'une fiction historique''
dans ''Le CERCE'', n°4, printemps 2002.

Pictures of a ''circulades''

File:Alairac2.JPG, View of Alairac's circulade File:Caux (Herault) hospice.JPG, Street in Caux's circulade File:Ruelle puéchabonaise.JPG, Houses in

Puéchabon Puéchabon (; , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region in Southern France. Geography The commune borders Causse-de-la-S ...

's circulade

References

{{Reflist, 2

Origin of the term

Pawlowski's thesis

Operation

Pictures of a ''circulades''

See also

References

Further reading