Saint-Girons (;

Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian, or Lengadocian () is an Occitan language, Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Lang ...

: ''Sent Gironç'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern

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 ...

History

Antiquity

Unlike its close neighbour Saint-Lizier, Saint-Girons isn't an ancient city; there was however a ''

lucus In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, a ''lucus'' (, plural ''lucī'') is a sacred grove. was one of four Latin words meaning in general "forest, woodland, grove" (along with , , and ), but unlike the others it was primarily us ...

'' 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. In the ninth century some of his

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s were supposedly buried in Saint Girons' Church, around which the city later developed.

Climate

Saint-Girons has a moderate but warm

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

, 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''.

Sport

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

Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella is the capital and largest city of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parishes of Andorra, Andorran parish that surrounds the capital. , the city had a populati ...

. Stage 9 of the 2013 Tour de France started here.

References

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