Aubenas, Ardèche Département, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

History | Renaissance | Economy | The City | Places and monuments

🇫🇷 Aubenas; Occitan: Aubenàs is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in southern France. It is the seat of several government offices. The mountainous and rugged countryside is popular for vacation homes. The river Ardèche flows through the commune. It is the most populous commune in the Ardéche department, the others being Annonay, Guilherand-Granges, and Tournon-sur-Rhône.

Aubenas is the centre of an urban area, composed of 22 towns and villages including Vals-les-Bains, with 41,568 inhabitants (2018). Aside from its long-year commercial activity, it has a good strategic position on the tourist field, at crossroads of a regional natural park, the zone of the Ardèche river canyon and the start of mountains. The chestnut industry is one testimony of the intense agricultural activity earlier in time.

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History The hill on which the city is built is mentioned during the 5th century AD. It tells of a conflict between the bishops of the hill and the bishops of Viviers, which is a local commune in the same modern day department; for the construction of a fortress. By 1084, the bishop of the hill won the lengthy conflict. The area became the possession of the Baron, Montlaur; all the way from the Ardèche mountains to what is now the western border of the current day department of Ardèche. The Baron's family reigned 1084 to 1441 and built the tower, the wall and two large, round towers of the castle which is surrounded by a moat that is why in French Aubenas is called "La cité des Montlaur". The lords who were not only at the origin of the economic growth of the city, but also the social and material development of its residents. Their motto was: "Montlaur, au plus haut!".

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Renaissance During the Renaissance, the city became Protestant, and after the third French war of religion, the residents refused to allow royal troops within the city walls.

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Economy Aubenas is the seat of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie Ardèche Méridionale. It is also the seat of the Centre de formation d'apprentis (CFA) et is a training centre.

Aubenas is a city which survives today on commerce, tourism, and food manufacturing companies, producing things like cheese, chestnuts and other foodstuffs, the likes of which one might find in a delicatessen. It is also close to the commune of Lanas, which is home to a small aeroport (an aerodrome).

The city hosted the arrival of the Tour de France on 24 July 2009, the day prior to the climbing of mount Ventoux.

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The City The city hall which is situated in the city centre is surrounded by many paved roads, this is also the highest part of the city, it overlooks the medieval castle that overlooks the valley of the Ardèche.

The city had a railway until 1969 for passengers and until 1988 for goods. The line Vogüé-Lalevade-d'Ardèche. The station still sells tickets for the SNCF.

Since 4 June 2007, the service "tout'enbus" of the community of the communes of Pays d'Aubenas-Vals has also worked in the commune of Aubenas, Saint-Privat, Ucel and Vals-les-Bains.

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Places and monuments • Château d'Aubenas, classed as a historic monument (France), now houses the city hall. Originally it was a strong castle in the 14th century. It was refurbished in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today it boasts a large collection of paintings, sculptures and engravings. It offers an exceptional dungeon panorama. • The Gargoule house, from the sixteenth century, by the castle. • The Saint Laurent composite church. • The Saint-Benoît cathedral of the 17th and 18th centuries is the old chapel of a benedictine convent.

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Image: Adobe Stock Luciano Mortula-LGM #133584241

Aubenas has a population of over 12,250 people. Aubenas also forms one of the centres of the wider Largentière Arrondissement which has a population of over 101,490 people. It is also a part of the larger Ardèche department.

To set up a UBI Lab for Aubenas see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Aubenas has links with:

🇮🇹 Cesenatico, Italy 🇩🇪 Schwarzenbek, Germany 🇨🇭 Sierre, Switzerland 🇧🇪 Zelzate, Belgium
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Aubenas is: -175.611,-44.619

Locations Near: Aubenas 4.38855,44.6193

🇫🇷 Largentière 4.294,44.544 d: 11.3  

🇫🇷 Privas 4.597,44.736 d: 21  

🇫🇷 Montélimar 4.745,44.565 d: 28.8  

🇫🇷 Alès 4.082,44.128 d: 59.8  

🇫🇷 Valence 4.892,44.933 d: 52.9  

🇫🇷 Tournon-sur-Rhône 4.833,45.066 d: 60.8  

🇫🇷 Le Puy-en-Velay 3.884,45.051 d: 62.3  

🇫🇷 Annonay 4.662,45.241 d: 72.4  

🇫🇷 Nîmes 4.36,43.837 d: 87.1  

🇫🇷 Avignon 4.806,43.949 d: 81.6  

Antipodal to: Aubenas -175.611,-44.619

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 17403.6  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 16609.6  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 16572.4  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 16148.6  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 12563  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 12493.3  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 12481.9  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 12476.2  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 12475.4  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 12466.2  

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