Bages, Aude

Bages (Bajas in Occitan) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France.

Bages
Commune
A general view of Bages, seen from a vineyard
Coat of arms
Location of Bages
Bages
Bages
Coordinates: 43°07′27″N 2°59′30″E
CountryFrance
RegionOccitanie
DepartmentAude
ArrondissementNarbonne
CantonNarbonne-2
IntercommunalityLe Grand Narbonne
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2020) Marie Bat
Area
1
12.53 km2 (4.84 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
803
 • Density64/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
11024 /11100
Elevation0–190 m (0–623 ft)
(avg. 36 m or 118 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bageois or Bageoises.[2]

Geography
Panorama of Bages

Bages is located in the urban area of Narbonne 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. 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. The A9 autoroute passes through the commune from north to south but has no exit in the commune. The nearest exit is Exit  38  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.[3]

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.[3]

Neighbouring communes and villages[4]

History

The origins of the site of the present commune date back to prehistoric times. According to historians tools found in Bages attest the presence of man from the Lower Paleolithic (80,000 years ago). Undoubtedly Neanderthal then Cro-Magnon 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.[5]

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
Arms of Bages
 The official status of the blazon remains to be determined.

Blazon:
Gules, a fesse fusilly of Or and Vert.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors[6]

FromToNamePartyPosition
18701877Louis Daude
18771878Guilhaume Alberny
18781888Louis Daude
18881891Jean Daude
18911892Auguste Gayraud
18921944Gabriel Cros-Mayrevieille
19441945Joseph Martin
19451977Louis Alberny
19771983René Chevrier
19831995Georges Arcis
19952008Claude Mulero
20082020Marie Bat

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 840 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]

Population change (See database)
1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851
716 699 698 742 875 900 864 864 876
1856 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896
805 881 924 1,018 1,146 1,193 1,163 1,137 1,136
1901 1906 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954
1,124 1,022 1,030 917 799 791 711 542 549
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2010 -
559 558 572 547 694 755 - 840 -
Population of Bages, Aude

Economy
Flamingos at Bages
A Flamingo at Bages

Art is prominent in the commune with Painters, sculptors, visual artists, musicians, storytellers, and cabinet makers drawing inspiration. There are two permanent Art galleries: La Maison des Arts and L'Etang Art which also has publishing activity through Les Temps d'Art Graphique.

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 which is prepared in bouillabaisse style.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage
  • The Monument of the Republic in the Place de Juin 1907 (1888) is registered as an historical object.[7]

Religious heritage

The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:

  • A Statue: Saint Delphine of Sabran (19th century)[8]
  • 2 Statues: Saints Martin of Tours and Paul of Narbonne[9]
  • A Painting: Christ on the cross between Saints Paul of Narbonne and Martin of Tours (17th century)[10]
  • A Thurible (19th century)[11]

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, mathematician who was born in Bages.
gollark: Oh no, "obviously", oh bees.
gollark: there are two boxes in front of you, A and B. B has 10,000 dollars in it, and A contains either 1,000,000 or 0 dollars.you may choose to take either only box A, or take both boxes.a perfect oracle has predicted your choice beforehand, and filled box A with the money if and only if it was predicted that you would take only box A.
gollark: Sinthörion, your response to the paradoxoform?
gollark: This can be the two boxer server. We can have another for the superior one boxers.
gollark: Esolangs fractures into two divided by different opinions on game theory WHEN?

See also

Notes
  1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Inhabitants of Aude (in French)
  3. Google Maps
  4. Géoportail, IGN (in French)
  5. Jean Guiffan, History of Bages and its inhabitants, Éditions Élysiques, 2007, 233 pages, paperback, ISBN 2-9528777-0-X, ISBN 978-2952877701 (in French)
  6. List of Mayors of France (in French)
  7. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM11000052 Monument of the Republic (in French)
  8. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM11000620 Statue: Saint Delphine of Sabran (in French)
  9. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM11000619 2 Statues: Saints Martin of Tours and Paul of Narbonne (in French)
  10. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM11000618 Painting: Christ on the cross between Saints Paul of Narbonne and Martin of Tours (in French)
  11. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM11000617 Thurible (in French)

Bibliography
  • Jean Guiffan, History of Bages and its inhabitants, Éditions Élysiques, 2007, 233 pages, paperback, ISBN 2-9528777-0-X, ISBN 978-2952877701 (in French)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.