Sète

Sète
Sète
	Tivoli bridge
	Coat of arms
	Location of Sète
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Hérault
Arrondissement	Montpellier
Canton	Sète-1 and Sète-2
Intercommunality	Bassin de Thau
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	François Commeinhes (UMP)
Area 1	24.21 km2 (9.35 sq mi)
Population (2008)	42,786
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,600/sq mi)
Demonym	Sétois
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	34301 /34200
Elevation	0–176 m (0–577 ft) ; (avg. 4 m or 13 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Sète (French pronunciation: [sɛt]; Seta in Occitan), known as Cette until 1928, is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Its inhabitants are called Sétois.

Known as the Venice of Languedoc and the singular island (in Paul Valéry's words), it is a port and a seaside resort on the Mediterranean with its own very strong cultural identity, traditions, cuisine and dialect. It is also the hometown of artists like Paul Valéry, Jean Vilar, Georges Brassens, Gregory Del Piero, Hervé Di Rosa, Manitas de Plata, and Robert Combas.

Geography

Built upon and around Mont St Clair, Sète is situated on the south-eastern hub of the Bassin de Thau, an enclosed salt water lake used primarily for oyster and mussel fields. To its other side lies the Mediterranean. And the town has a network of canals which are link between the Étang de Thau and the Mediterranean Sea.

Climate

Climate data for Sète (1981–2010 averages)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	20.2 (68.4)	21.3 (70.3)	27.1 (80.8)	31.0 (87.8)	34.6 (94.3)	35.9 (96.6)	37.8 (100.0)	41.0 (105.8)	34.2 (93.6)	32.1 (89.8)	25.4 (77.7)	20.4 (68.7)	41.0 (105.8)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	10.8 (51.4)	11.6 (52.9)	14.6 (58.3)	16.9 (62.4)	20.6 (69.1)	24.9 (76.8)	27.8 (82.0)	27.4 (81.3)	23.7 (74.7)	19.3 (66.7)	14.3 (57.7)	11.4 (52.5)	18.6 (65.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	5.3 (41.5)	5.5 (41.9)	7.9 (46.2)	10.1 (50.2)	13.8 (56.8)	17.4 (63.3)	20.0 (68.0)	19.9 (67.8)	16.8 (62.2)	13.6 (56.5)	9.0 (48.2)	6.2 (43.2)	12.2 (54.0)
Record low °C (°F)	−11.0 (12.2)	−12.0 (10.4)	−6.2 (20.8)	1.2 (34.2)	4.2 (39.6)	6.5 (43.7)	12.0 (53.6)	11.0 (51.8)	6.0 (42.8)	2.4 (36.3)	−1.8 (28.8)	−7.2 (19.0)	−12.0 (10.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	51.4 (2.02)	51.8 (2.04)	39.7 (1.56)	48.3 (1.90)	42.3 (1.67)	25.2 (0.99)	11.5 (0.45)	26.4 (1.04)	56.7 (2.23)	90.9 (3.58)	65.2 (2.57)	51.3 (2.02)	560.7 (22.07)
Average relative humidity (%)	76	74	70	70	72	69	66	68	74	76	75	76	72.2
Source 1: Météo France^[1]
Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days, 1961–1990)^[2]

History

The name first appeared in:
- Ptolemy (Geography II.10.2.) : Σήτιον ὄρος
- Avienus (Ora Maritima) : Setius... mons
- The maps of Aniane : fiscum..qui nuncupatur Sita
July 29, 1666 : the first stone is officially set on the Saint-Louis pier.
1681 : completion of the Canal du Midi.
1684 : Vauban visits the port.
1703 : Saint-Louis church is consecrated.
24–26 July 1710 : during the War of the Spanish Succession the British attack Sète, soon fought back by the Duke of Noailles.
1710–1711 : Saint-Pierre and Butte-Ronde forts are built.
1724 : the townhouse is bought.
1744 : building of the Richelieu citadel and the Castellas tower.
1807–1809 : the British try to burn the town.
May 21, 1821 : the first stone of the breakwater is set (finished in 1869).
June 9, 1839 : opening of the Montpellier-Sète railway.
May 6, 1872 : establishment of the chamber of commerce.
1882–1888 : construction works on the port.
June 24, 1894 : Sante Geronimo Caserio, Italian Anarchist from Lombardy and apprentice baker in Sète stabs to death president Sadi Carnot in Lyon.
1895 : opening of the boy high school, later Lycée Paul Valéry.
1901 : electric trams network (used until 1935).
January 20, 1928 : the name of the town changes from Cette to Sète.
1934 : Sète Football Club wins the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France and becomes the first club to win both the same year.
May 23, 1939 : the SS Sinaïa leaves the port with Spanish Republicans seeking asylum in Lázaro Cárdenas's Mexico.
November 12, 1942 : the town is occupied by the German troops of the Wehrmacht.
June 25, 1944 : bombing of Sète's train station, Balaruc-les-Bains's and Frontignan's oil refineries by the American 15th Air Force.
August 20, 1944 : liberation of Sète.
July 11, 1947 : The packet steamer SS President Warfield leaves for Palestine with 4 530 Jews who survived the Shoah. The port official M. Leboutet had authorised captain Ike Aronowicz to sail to Colombia and, after 5 days on the Atlantic Ocean, the ship took the name SS Exodus and changed direction towards Palestine. 27 km (17 miles) from the coast, they were stopped by 5 British torpedo boats. 75 passengers accepted asylum in France, while the others were brought to Hamburg via Gibraltar.
1960 : the Théâtre de la Mer is built.
1962 : opening of the technical college Joliot-Curie
1966–1978 : major construction works on the port.
1970 : opening of the Museum Paul Valéry.
1981–1984 : a new public hospital is built.
October 31, 1991 : the espace Georges Brassens, a museum dedicated to the singer, opens.
2004 : plan to preserve the Lido and prevent further coastal damage.

2005 : creation of a new neighbourhood called Villeroy.

2006 : renovation of the espace Georges Brassens.
January 1, 2007 : the Languedoc-Roussillon manages the port of Sète.
2014 :une ville humanitaire, creation of "les Anges de la Rue "

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	8,031	—
1800	6,984	−13.0%
1806	8,438	+20.8%
1821	9,061	+7.4%
1831	10,638	+17.4%
1836	11,648	+9.5%
1841	13,413	+15.2%
1846	19,041	+42.0%
1851	19,124	+0.4%
1856	21,064	+10.1%
1861	22,438	+6.5%
1866	24,177	+7.8%
1872	25,826	+6.8%
1876	28,690	+11.1%
1881	35,517	+23.8%
1886	37,058	+4.3%
1891	36,541	−1.4%
1896	32,729	−10.4%
1901	33,246	+1.6%
1906	33,892	+1.9%
1911	33,049	−2.5%
1921	36,503	+10.5%
1926	37,005	+1.4%
1931	36,953	−0.1%
1936	37,324	+1.0%
1946	31,203	−16.4%
1954	33,454	+7.2%
1962	36,301	+8.5%
1968	40,476	+11.5%
1975	39,258	−3.0%
1982	39,545	+0.7%
1990	41,510	+5.0%
1999	39,542	−4.7%
2008	42,786	+8.2%

Patron saint

In 1703, when the Saint-Louis church was consecrated, Louis IX, patron of the port, also became the patron saint of the town. He has been celebrated every year on August 25, with canal jousting competitions, music and fireworks, except during wartime.

Transport

Sète is the eastern starting point of the Canal du Midi, and the ending point of the Canal du Rhône à Sète. Its train station Gare de Sète is approximately 15 minutes by train from Montpellier, and is also served by long distance trains to Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Paris. Car ferries sail between Sète and Morocco.

Culture

Sète is a centre of water jousting, and hosts a major tournament during the town festival, the St-Louis.

Paul Valéry's poem Le cimetière marin, depicts the graveyard above Sète's harbour. Valéry is buried in the graveyard, and the nearby Paul Valéry Museum contains a collection of his drawings and manuscripts.

Espace Georges-Brassens is a museum dedicated to the Sétois singer-songwriter.

Agnès Varda's first film, La Pointe Courte, was filmed in the environs of Sète.

The Secret of the Grain, also known as Couscous or Le Grain et le Mulet, a César Award-winning movie about Tunisian immigrants, was filmed in Sète.

Notable people

File:Fountain in Sete, France.jpg

Octopus fountain.

Sète was the birthplace of:

Paul Valéry (1871–1945), author and poet of the Symbolist school
Jean Vilar (1912–1971), actor and creator of the Avignon theatre festival
Georges Brassens (1921–1981), singer and songwriter
Robert Combas (born 1957), sculptor and painter
Hervé Di Rosa (born 1959), painter and sculptor
Manitas de Plata (1921-2014), flamenco guitarist
Gregory Del Piero (born 1972), songwriter, music producer and sound engineer
Simon Sutour (born 1952), Senator of Gard
Alain de Pouzilhac (born 1945), CEO of France 24 and former president of France Médias Monde