Agen
Agen | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral of Saint-Caprais | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Agen  | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine |
| Department | Lot-et-Garonne |
| Arrondissement | Agen |
| Intercommunality | Agen |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2008–2020) | Jean Dionis du Séjour (NC) |
Area 1 | 11.49 km2 (4.44 sq mi) |
| Population (2013) | 34,344 |
| • Density | 3,000/km2 (7,700/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 47001 /47000 |
| Elevation | 37–162 m (121–531 ft) (avg. 48 m or 157 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
The commune of Agen (French pronunciation: [aʒɛ̃]) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne 135 kilometres (84 mi) southeast of Bordeaux.
Geography
The city of Agen lies in the southern department Lot-et-Garonne in the Aquitaine region. The city centre lies on the east bank of the Garonne river close to the Canal de Garonne, approximately halfway between Bordeaux (132 km) and Toulouse (107 km).
Climate
Agen features an oceanic climate (Cfb), in the Köppen climate classification. Winters are mild and feature cool to cold temperatures while summers are mild and warm. Rainfall is spread equally throughout the year, however, most sunshine hours are from March–September.
| Climate data for Agen, France (altitude 59m, 1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 20.1 (68.2) |
22.3 (72.1) |
26.3 (79.3) |
30.2 (86.4) |
34.0 (93.2) |
38.8 (101.8) |
40.6 (105.1) |
41.0 (105.8) |
36.7 (98.1) |
32.0 (89.6) |
25.4 (77.7) |
21.6 (70.9) |
41.0 (105.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.2 (48.6) |
11.3 (52.3) |
15.0 (59.0) |
17.5 (63.5) |
21.5 (70.7) |
25.0 (77.0) |
27.6 (81.7) |
27.6 (81.7) |
24.5 (76.1) |
19.6 (67.3) |
13.2 (55.8) |
9.5 (49.1) |
18.5 (65.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.1 (35.8) |
2.4 (36.3) |
4.4 (39.9) |
6.6 (43.9) |
10.3 (50.5) |
13.6 (56.5) |
15.4 (59.7) |
15.3 (59.5) |
12.3 (54.1) |
9.7 (49.5) |
5.4 (41.7) |
2.8 (37.0) |
8.4 (47.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −17.4 (0.7) |
−21.9 (−7.4) |
−10.5 (13.1) |
−3.9 (25.0) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
2.5 (36.5) |
5.9 (42.6) |
4.7 (40.5) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−5.0 (23.0) |
−8.8 (16.2) |
−12.1 (10.2) |
−21.9 (−7.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 55.1 (2.17) |
52.1 (2.05) |
49.8 (1.96) |
67.6 (2.66) |
76.1 (3.00) |
58.4 (2.30) |
51.3 (2.02) |
55.0 (2.17) |
59.3 (2.33) |
64.3 (2.53) |
63.4 (2.50) |
59.8 (2.35) |
712.2 (28.04) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.9 | 8.3 | 9.0 | 10.8 | 10.6 | 8.1 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 9.8 | 107.1 |
| Average snowy days | 1.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 4.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 89 | 85 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 75 | 73 | 76 | 79 | 86 | 90 | 91 | 81.4 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 77.5 | 110.1 | 172.6 | 182.3 | 213.6 | 232.1 | 255.4 | 242.3 | 204.9 | 138.2 | 84.0 | 69.4 | 1,982.4 |
| Source 1: Météo France[1][2] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days, 1961–1990)[3] | |||||||||||||
Toponymy
From Occitan Agen (1197), itself from Latin Aginnum (3rd century Itinéraire d'Antonin), from a Celtic root agin meaning "rock or height".
Population
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 9,876 | — |
| 1806 | 10,850 | +9.9% |
| 1821 | 11,659 | +7.5% |
| 1831 | 12,631 | +8.3% |
| 1836 | 13,399 | +6.1% |
| 1841 | 14,987 | +11.9% |
| 1846 | 15,517 | +3.5% |
| 1851 | 16,027 | +3.3% |
| 1856 | 17,667 | +10.2% |
| 1861 | 17,263 | −2.3% |
| 1866 | 18,222 | +5.6% |
| 1872 | 18,887 | +3.6% |
| 1876 | 19,503 | +3.3% |
| 1881 | 20,485 | +5.0% |
| 1886 | 22,055 | +7.7% |
| 1891 | 23,234 | +5.3% |
| 1896 | 22,730 | −2.2% |
| 1901 | 22,482 | −1.1% |
| 1906 | 23,141 | +2.9% |
| 1911 | 23,294 | +0.7% |
| 1921 | 23,391 | +0.4% |
| 1926 | 23,530 | +0.6% |
| 1931 | 24,939 | +6.0% |
| 1936 | 27,152 | +8.9% |
| 1946 | 33,397 | +23.0% |
| 1954 | 32,593 | −2.4% |
| 1962 | 32,800 | +0.6% |
| 1968 | 34,949 | +6.6% |
| 1975 | 34,039 | −2.6% |
| 1982 | 31,593 | −7.2% |
| 1990 | 30,553 | −3.3% |
| 1999 | 30,199 | −1.2% |
| 2006 | 33,728 | +11.7% |
| 2009 | 33,920 | +0.6% |
Economy
The town has a higher level of unemployment than the national average. Major employers include the pharmaceutical factory UPSA.
Sights
The old centre of town contains a number of medieval buildings.
The twelfth century Agen Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Caprasius, is one of the few large churches in France with a double nave, a regional trait also found in the Church of the Jacobins in nearby Toulouse.
The Saint Hilaire church, dedicated to the theme of the Holy Trinity which the Saint in question did a lot to defend, is notable for its unusual statues in front of the Church – Moses on the right, and St Peter on the left.
The Fine Arts museum, Musée des Beaux Arts contains artefacts, furniture and sculptures from prehistoric times onwards. The art gallery contains several hundred works, including several by Goya, and others by Bonnard and Seurat. The collection also contains a large number of works by artists who lived locally. The museum is made up of twenty or so rooms.[4]
The Canal des Deux Mers, which joins the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, crosses the river Garonne at Agen via the town's famous canal bridge.
Entertainment
The municipal theatre "Théâtre Ducourneau" presents theatre, and occasionally classical concerts. The smaller "Théâtre du jour" has a resident theatre company presenting a variety of recent or older plays (Shakespeare, Becket, as well as lesser known playwrights).
There are two cinemas, one a commercial multiscreened affair, the other an arts cinema run by a voluntary organization. The latter organizes film festivals every year.
Sport
Rugby is extremely popular in the town, and the local team, SU Agen, is enthusiastically supported. The town also serves as the base for the Team Lot-et-Garonne cycling team.
Transport
The Gare d'Agen connects Agen with Toulouse and Bordeaux as well as Périgueux. It is around an hour from Toulouse and around an hour from Bordeaux. The fast trains to Paris take four hours and ten minutes.
Agen is connected, by the A62 autoroute, to both Toulouse and Bordeaux.
The Agen Airport is serviced by Airlinair service to Paris Orly 6 days a week. It is also used for business and leisure flying.
Agen stands on the voie verte cycle path between the Mediterranean and close to Bordeaux.
Diocese
Agen is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese that comprises the Département of Lot and Garonne. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bordeaux.
Twin cities
Agen is twinned with:[5]
Tuapse, Russia[5]
Dinslaken, Germany[5][6]
Llanelli, Wales, United Kingdom[5][7]
Toledo, Spain[5][8]
Corpus Christi, United States[5]
Personalities
- As place of birth
- Bernard Palissy (c. 1510–1590), potter – according to some accounts, he may have been born in Saintes
- Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), scholar
- Pierre Dupuy (1582–1651), scholar
- Joseph Barsalou (1600–1660), physician
- Godefroi, Comte d'Estrades (1607–1686), diplomatist and marshal
- Bernard Germain Étienne comte de La Ville-sur-Illon La Cépède (1756–1825), naturalist
- Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1780–1846), naturalist
- Jacques Jasmin (1798–1864), Provençal poet
- Victor Rabu (1834–1907), architect who built many important churches in Montevideo, Uruguay
- Joseph Chaumié (1849–1919), politician
- William Grover-Williams (1903–1945) racer and SOE agent
- Michel Serres (born 1930), philosopher and author
- Jacques Sadoul (born 1934), author
- Jean Cruguet (born 1939), jockey who won the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
- Alain Aspect (born 1947), physicist
- Francis Cabrel (born 1953), singer-songwriter and guitarist
- Bernard Campan (born 1958), actor and film director
- Stéphane Rideau (born 1976), actor
- Aymeric Laporte (born 1994), footballer
- As residence
- Nostradamus lived in Agen from 1531 until at least 1534. He was married to a local woman with whom he had two children.
Miscellaneous
Agen is the "capital of the prune", a local produce sold as a sweet (stuffed with prune purée) or as an after-dinner delight (prunes soaked in Armagnac – a type of brandy). Every September, the Prune festival organizes rock concerts, circuses and prune tasting.
Jews
The first Jews settled in the town in the twelfth century AD. They were expelled from the town in 1306. A number of Jews returned to the town in 1315, and a "Rue des Juifs" is documented ever since this period. In 1968, about 600 Jews lived in the town, though most of them emigrated to the town from North Africa.[9] A Jewish synagogue still exists in the town.[10]
See also
- SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne, a French rugby union club based in Agen
- Agenais, or Agenois, a former province of France
References
- Notes
- ^ "Données climatiques de la station de Agen" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Climat Aquitaine" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Normes et records 1961-1990: Agen - La Garenne (47) - altitude 59m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Agen – Tourist Office – The History of Agen – Origins". www.ot-agen.org. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f "National Commission for Decentralised cooperation". Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères) (in French). Retrieved 26 December 2013.
- ^ "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District" (PDF). © 2009 Twins2010.com. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
{{cite web}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ^ "Sister Cities". Toledo Turismo. Patronato Municipal de Turismo. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=imcpl1111&tabID=T003&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&contentSet=GALE%7CCX2587500523&&docId=GALE%7CCX2587500523&docType=GALE
- ^ Jewish And Kosher France: Synagogues In Agen, France
External links
- site de la ville
- office de tourisme
- Diocese of Agen – Catholic Encyclopædia article
- Agen - Christ article
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