Country France Department Aude Intercommunality Pays de Couiza Area 18.53 km² Arrondissement Limoux | Region Occitanie Canton Couiza Population (2009) 268 Local time Wednesday 11:53 PM | |
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Weather 7°C, Wind SW at 8 km/h, 82% Humidity | ||
Arques is a French commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France.
Contents
- Map of 11190 Arques France
- Geography
- History
- Administration
- Demography
- Sites and monuments
- Notable people linked to the commune
- References
Map of 11190 Arques, France
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arquois or Arquoises
Geography
Arques is located in the Pyrénées mountains some 25 km south-east of Limoux and 25 km north-east of Quillan. Access to the commune is by the D613 road from Serres in the west passing through the village and continuing to Albières in the east. The D54 goes north from the village to Valmigère. At the commune border the D70 branches from the D54 and follows a tortuous route to Bouisse. The commune is an alpine commune with rugged terrain but with some farms in the valley.
The Rialsesse river flows though the centre of the commune and the village from east to west gathering many tributaries. In the south the Ruisseau de Lait, with many tributaries rising in the commune, flows north-west into the Lac d'Arques (Arques Lake) which feeds the Rialsesse.
History
The area was owned by the Abbey of Lagrasse in the early 11th century, before coming under the control of the Lords of Termes. In 1231 the region was given by Simon de Montfort to Pierre de Voisins after the Albigensian Crusade. His successor, Gilles de Voisins, began the construction of the castle in 1280 and the organization of the Bastide. It was the northern barons who came to occupy the land of the Cathar heretics under the order of Pope Innocent III. The dynasty of Voisins was extinguished in 1518 with the marriage of Françoise with Jean de Joyeuse, a member of the House of Joyeuse who therefore became the owner of the lordship and barony of Arques. Arques castle was abandoned in favour of the Château des Ducs de Joyeuse (Castle of the Dukes of Joyeuse) in Couiza. Lords and barons of Arques-barons were hereditary barons of Languedoc (Pays d'états) and had a permanent seat in the Estates of Languedoc.
Administration
List of Successive Mayors
(Not all data is known)
Demography
In 2009 the commune had 268 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 towns that have a sample survey every year.
Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)
Sites and monuments
The commune has two sites that are registered as historical monuments: