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Salagou Lake |
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The name of Cubertoirata appears since the XI century at the time of the delimitation of
the territories that belong to the abbey of Gellone, in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (Hérault) today.
From the XII century the Templars are installed on the Larzac and in the Couvertoirade. Their
installation in this region is mainly due to the proximity of roads descending to the
Mediterranean coast to embark toward the East and the Holy Land. |
In 1312, the order of the Templars was disbanded.
All their possessions are handed to the Hospitallers that become the new masters of the Couvertoirade. |
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Mende it is situated in the Highlands of the Region Languedoc Roussillon,
in the department of the Lozère.
Mende is the gateway to the Gorges du Tarn and to the National Park Cévennes.
The construction of Mende's Cathedral began in 1368, on initiative of Pope Urbano V
in Avignon, and was consecrated one century later.
Inside the Cathedral tapestries of the beginning of the XVIII, representing the life of
the Virgin Mary, sculptures and objects in wood of the XVII century, a black Virgin of the XII
century and an organ of the XVII century. |
From 1997 the middle age city Carcassonne has been classified by the UNESCO
world patrimony of the humanity.
The city is separated in two, the Low City (Ville) and the High City (Cité) sets
on a promontory and contained by fortifications.
Carcassonne became famous in the beginning of the XIII century, for its role in the
Albigese Crusade, when the city was a fortress of the French Chatars. |
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The name of Aigues-Mortes comes from the swamps and the ponds found
all around the fortified city (from the Latin Aquae Mortuae).
In origin the inhabitants lived of fishing, hunting and of the salt's production produced
in numerous small salted swamps situated along the shore of the sea.
In the Middle Age the whole region was under the control of the monks of the abbey of Psalmodie.
In 1240 Louis IX, with the objective to obtain a port on the Mediterranean for his kingdom, gets
from the abbey, thanks to a propriety exchange, the control of the village and the surrounding lands.
In 1272 Phillip, son and successor of Louis IX ordered to build fortified walls around the city. The
construction of the walls finished 30 years later.
It was from the port of Aigues-Mortes that Louis IX set sail twice to participate in the seventh
crusade, in 1248, and to the octave crusade in 1270.
From these facts comes the popular belief that in medieval time Aigues-Mortes was directly on the sea.
In 1893 it was theatre of a conflict among French and Italian workers employed in the salt pans of
Peccais, the conflict turned into a real slaughter with nine dead and hundred wounded on the Italian side. |
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