Caunes-Minervois

Caunes -Minervois ( Occitan: Caunas de Menerbes ) is a commune with 1660 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) in the Cathar Country in the landscape of the Minervois. The place is through the mined in the quarries around red marble widely known.

Location

Caunes- Minervois is located at the Argent- Double, a left tributary of the River Aude, but the real flow size reached only after heavy rains. The village is located about 23 km ( driving distance ) north-east of Carcassonne and about 50 kilometers northwest of Narbonne.

Demographics

Economy

For centuries, the economy of the town played the marble quarries a large role; today little marble is only broken, which is mainly installed in the magnificent buildings of the Middle East.

Viticulture and sheep are also characteristic for centuries acquisition activities in the environment; the city serves as a regional center for retail and trade.

History

The town grew up around the Abbey founded in 780 Carolingian around. This was in the 13th century as a bulwark against the Cathars in focus papal interest. In 1226, Pierre Isarn, an Albigensian bishop burned in the presence of King Louis VIII at the stake in Caunes.

Attractions

Abbaye St -Pierre et St -Paul

Other

• The weißgeäderte red marble, which was probably mined since Roman times here, has made Caunes- Minervois famous. Slabs, columns etc. and from this block can be found both in the Mezquita de Córdoba, and in the Romanesque facade of the Priory of Marcevol and the Grand Trianon of Versailles, in the Opéra Garnier and the columns of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in Paris. The most famous quarry was the Carrière de Malecasse (or Carrière du Roi ), as King Louis XIV made ​​him reserve for its various construction projects; the most photogenic is located at Buffens in about 4 kilometers away. Three of the quarries are classified as Monuments historiques since 2006.
• The site with some pebble paved streets acts partly still medieval.
• The Hôtel d' Alibert has a beautiful arcaded courtyard with a fountain and canopy dates from the 16th century. It now serves as a restaurant, it has registered since 1926 as a monument historique since.
• The Hôtel de Sicard was in 16-17. Century built in forms of the Renaissance; It has several large windows facing the street. Since 1948 it has been recognized as a monument historique.
• The Hôtel de Tapié dates from the 17th century and has a corner window in the Renaissance style. The building is privately owned, but is registered as a monument historique since 1948.
• The medieval city walls ( Ramparts ) was also razed during the Wars of Religion as the walls of the abbey; Little is yet to see it.

• Just outside the town is the Crucifix Chapel ( Chapelle du Crucifix ) - a simple construction from the late Gothic period with tracery windows and ribbed vaults. When stored inside Pietà, the sculptor has the right leg and right arm of the dead Christ saved because both are always away from the viewer. The building is recognized as a monument historique since 1926.
• A Beautiful Fountain ( grande fontaine ) from the first quarter of the 19th century is historiques since 1948 on the list of the monument.
• A so-called ' Roman Bridge ' ( pont romain ) crossed with only one wide tensioned segmental arch the Argent- Double about 300 meters north of Caunes.
• About four kilometers south, at Sainte- Eugène, is a restored Dolmen.