Tricastin

The Tricastin is a French landscape on the east side of the Rhone valley in the southwest of the Drôme Provençale and northwest of the Vaucluse department.

History

The Tricastin is the home of the Gallic tribe of the Tricastini in Gallia Narbonensis, whose capital Augusta Tricastini by Pliny the Elder mentions in his third book. From Augusta Tricastini later became Saint -Paul -Trois -Châteaux, the medieval name of Saint -Paul -en- Tricastin was, and got its current name in a misinterpretation. After the wine region Coteaux du was renamed Tricastin in Grignan -les- Adhemar, the term is Tricastin today mainly by the nuclear plant Tricastin and the associated nuclear power plant Tricastin, separated by the Canal de Donzère - Mondragon from Saint -Paul -Trois -Châteaux are.

Geography

The Tricastin is ( pays de la pierre blanche ) also known as the "land of the white stone ", as it one of the few regions in the Rhone valley is geologically whose stone is relatively bright. In numerous quarries, especially in Saint -Paul -Trois -Chateaux and Saint- Restitut the stone was still mined until the mid 20th century.

Climate

The Tricastin has a Mediterranean climate with dry summers and strong Mistral in winter. Nevertheless, the winters are milder than in the north of the Drôme Provençale, or in the department of Ardèche, but about three degrees cooler than in Provence.

Places

The most important places of Tricastin are:

• Saint -Paul -Trois -Châteaux
• Bollène
• Bourg -Saint -Andéol
• Donzère
• Grignan
• La Garde- Adhemar
• Lapalud
• Pierre Latte and
• Pont -Saint -Esprit,

Of which only Grignan is not in the proximity of the river Rhône.