Frontignan

Frontignan

Frontignan la Peyrade
Frontignan Frontignan la Peyrade
	Town hall
	Coat of arms
	Location of Frontignan
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Hérault
Arrondissement	Montpellier
Canton	Frontignan
Intercommunality	Bassin de Thau
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Pierre Bouldoire (PS)
Area 1	31.72 km2 (12.25 sq mi)
Population (2006)	23,169
• Density	730/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	34108 /34110
Elevation	0–223 m (0–732 ft) ; (avg. 2 m or 6.6 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Frontignan-la Peyrade (French pronunciation: [fʁɔ̃tiɲɑ̃ lapɛˈʁad]; Template:Lang-oc) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

Frontignan is renowned for its AOC wine, the Muscat de Frontignan, a sweet wine made solely from the Muscat grape variety.

Geography

Frontignan is located in the Languedoc coastal plain between the towns of Sète and Montpellier.

The town is surrounded by the Gardiole mountain range in the north, the Ingril lagoon in the east, the Étang de Thau in the west and the Mediterranean shore (including the beach resort Frontignan-Plage) in the south.

The Rhône-Sète canal separates the inland town centre and Frontignan-Plage.

History

1362 foundation of the fortress
1560 ransacked by the Protestants
16 June 1642: King Louis XIII of France and Cardinal Richelieu meet in Frontignan.
1787: Thomas Jefferson, future president of the United States, stays in Frontignan and reportedly enjoys the local Muscat de Frontignan wine.
28 June 1940: The car driven by Paul Reynaud hits a tree at La Peyrade, killing his mistress Helene de Portes. Reynaud is hospitalized, arrested on discharge, and imprisoned for the duration of the war.^[1]
25 June 1944: The Frontignan oil refineries and parts of the city (including the rail station) are bombed by the 15th USAAF causing some 40 civilian deaths.
31 December 2002: Frontignan together with the neighbouring towns of Sète, Balaruc-les-Bains, Balaruc-le-Vieux, Vic-la-Gardiole, Mireval, Gigean and Marseillan joins the district of Thau (Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin de Thau).

Population

In 1800, Frontignan was home to around 1400 individuals. Until the 20th century, Frontignan had a population of less than 4000. In 2008, there were over 23,000.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	1,100	—
1800	1,416	+28.7%
1806	1,398	−1.3%
1821	1,491	+6.7%
1831	1,877	+25.9%
1836	1,844	−1.8%
1841	1,966	+6.6%
1846	1,926	−2.0%
1851	2,129	+10.5%
1856	2,077	−2.4%
1861	2,574	+23.9%
1866	3,000	+16.6%
1872	3,225	+7.5%
1876	3,537	+9.7%
1881	3,164	−10.5%
1886	3,326	+5.1%
1891	3,603	+8.3%
1896	3,902	+8.3%
1901	4,470	+14.6%
1906	4,668	+4.4%
1911	5,174	+10.8%
1921	5,283	+2.1%
1926	5,483	+3.8%
1931	5,859	+6.9%
1936	6,243	+6.6%
1946	6,096	−2.4%
1954	6,998	+14.8%
1962	8,309	+18.7%
1968	11,141	+34.1%
1975	12,238	+9.8%
1982	14,951	+22.2%
1990	16,245	+8.7%
1999	19,145	+17.9%
2008	23,169	+21.0%

Sights

Old town centre with remains of the fortress dating back to the 14th century
Saint Paul's Church (in parts 12th century)
The Penitents' chapel (including the city's museum)
Maison Population (early 20th century)
Château Stony
Château de la Peyrade
La Peyrade bridge (17th century)
Yacht port
Natural reserve beaches
Aresquiers natural reserve
Argeliès caves

Economy

Until the early 20th century the local economy was based on the production of marine salt and wine. Later petro-chemical and chemical industries predominate with a steady decline in the 1980s. The oil refinery that opened in 1900 was converted to a simple depot in 1986.

Since the end of the 20th century, modern fisheries and high-tech plastics take over. Seasonal tourism is a dominant part of the local economy.

Important businesses in Frontignan include:

Distrisud S.A.
Indubois S.A.S.
Hexis S.A.
Barba S.A.S.
Frontignan Coopérative S.C.A.
Mobil Concepts s.à.r.l.

Culture

Frontignan is the hometown of the writer Maurice Clavel.
Every year since 1998 Frontignan organises the annual Festival International du Roman Noir (for noir fiction).
Bullfighting and river jousting are the traditional sports.