Rodez, Aveyron Département, Occitanie, France

🇫🇷 Rodez (Rodés), is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km north-east of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania. Rodez is the seat of the communauté d'agglomération Rodez Agglomération, of the First Constituency of Aveyron as well as of the general Council of Aveyron. Former capital of the Rouergue, the city is seat of the Diocese of Rodez and Vabres.

Geography: Location Located in the south of France, in the heart of the triangle formed by Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, in the western foothills of the Massif Central, the Rodez landscape is situated between the valleys and high plateaus of Grands Causses  and the moist hills of Ségala. It extends into Grand Rodez, with the communes of Onet-le-Château, Sainte-Radegonde, Le Monastère, Olemps and Luc-la-Primaube, which forms an agglomeration of 83,000 habitants adjoining the city of Rodez.

Geology and landforms The territory of Rodez is packed with geological diversity. It straddles the ancient base of Ségala composed of acidic siliceous soil of Les Rougiers consisting of red argillite, and causses composed of limestones and marls. The city was built on a conical isolated terrain, locally called Le Piton, and gradually spread to the surrounding slopes. It is located in a seismicity level 2 zone which is a low level.

Geography: Hydrography The Aveyron crosses the commune and is important for fishing. Green spaces are proposed for the Layoule  Quarter, and the Auterne  stream.

Transport Rodez is a growing city and an important economic engine in the Midi-Pyrénées since the early 2000s. Its location on RN 88, the Toulouse-Lyon axis, is essential to its economic and tourist development and plays a vital role for Rodez, as it is a connection to regional cities such as Toulouse, Albi and Castres, with which it is developing collaborations.

As of 2005, the Aveyron department continues to improve its regional connectivity. The Rodez ring road, which surrounds the agglomeration of Grand Rodez  is gradually being converted to a dual carriageway urban boulevard and improving Rodez as a strategic location. Future plans (2018) call for the entire ring road to be a dual carriageway as part of the 2014-2018 plan. Three grade separated roundabouts are planned as part of the dualing urban boulevard project: Moutiers, La Gineste and Saint-Marc. A major bypass is also proposed but without a specific deadline.

In 2009, the Rodez-Aveyron Airport expanded its terminal and introduction of new international scheduled destinations.

Local transportation options include car rentals and the local bus system (Agglobus). The city centre (centre ville), with its cobblestone streets lined with ancient buildings hundreds of years old, is pedestrian friendly.

Routes Railway lines Rodez station is at the crossing point of rail lines from Capdenac  (to Paris), Albi along the Castelnaudary to Rodez line  (destined for Toulouse) and Sévérac-le-Château  (destined for Millau). The rail network has undergone numerous restructurings, including the plan rail Midi-Pyrénées. Between 2009 and 2013, replacement of rails, the rehabilitation of structures, replacement of information systems traffic operations on the Rodez-Toulouse and Rodez-Paris lines have resulted in network improvement. Additionally, the region was equipped with new TER trains in 2013 that are faster and more comfortable.

Main roads Rodez is situated along RN88  (route linking Toulouse to Lyon), transformed in the Rodez area into an urban boulevard [dual carriageways, many on and off sliproads, speed limited to between 70–110 km/h (43–68 mph)] to allow the flow of traffic totalling 35,000 vehicles per day. Counting loops  are buried to assess traffic for transcription by real-time traffic maps. The portion of this highway, declared a national priority in 1993 between Rodez and Albi, is currently in the process of restructuring with the doubling of the carriageways, after decades of studies and that since 18 October 2010, date of the official launch of this vast site.

A portion of the RN88 road between Rodez and Carmaux should be completely converted into a dual carriageway expressway and put into service in 2018, thus allowing a virtually seamless dual carriageway journey between Rodez and Toulouse (with the exception of the portion between Albi and Carmaux the route upgrading to motorway is envisaged but not programmed to date). Indeed, the A68 has been in service between Albi and Toulouse for several years. As of 2018, the RN88 which is an extension of the A68 will then almost all be dual carriageway, thus reducing the time between Rodez and Toulouse. Note that this axis is one of the largest in the Midi-Pyrénées in terms of traffic. As for the portion of the RN88 between Rodez and Sévérac-le-Château, this last link is missing dual carriageway, studies are underway but work will not begin before 2020 due to lack of credits granted. At the end of this work, the entire journey will be converted into dual carriageway between Rodez and the principal cities around the Mediterranean.

Furthermore, the segment of the city between Espalion and Rodez underwent a restructuring with the diversion of Curlande commissioned in 2011. A bypass project of the town of Espalion is ongoing since the beginning of this year towards the west of the Lot Valley and Aurillac. With the RN88 which is the most important artery of the agglomeration, Rodez is the focal point of several routes from its own department or bordering departments: • The Route Nationale 88  which provides access to Albi, Castres, Montpellier, Toulouse to the south and Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Orléans, Paris and also Millau, Sète, Béziers, Narbonne and Perpignan to the north. Rodez is located 50 km (31 mi) from the A75 • The Route departmental 840  reaches the International Airport of Rodez-Aveyron, Decazeville (then Aurillac by the RD963  and the RN122), Figeac, Brive then the A20 to Limoges, Tours, Orléans and Paris • The Route departmental 994  joins to Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Cahors, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, then the autoroute to Bordeaux.

Transport: Rail The railway station of Rodez, located on Avenue du Maréchal Joffre, is the main station of Aveyron. There are daily trains to Paris and Toulouse, as well as other trains and buses connecting Rodez to smaller towns. It serves Paris-Austerlitz (Intercités), Toulouse-Matabiau (TER), Brive-la-Gaillarde (TER), Millau (TER and regional bus), Montpellier (bus with mandatory charging at Millau station) and other stations of the department and bordering departments. In addition, it is noted that many other large French cities can be reached by the connections in Toulouse and Brive. The lines and railway infrastructure have undergone important renovations with the complete change of the rails, the modernisation of technical systems and structures as well as the implementation of new systems of traffic management. In the next few years, the aim is for a time of 1 hour 45 minutes from Rodez to Toulouse and 4 hours 50 minutes from Rodez to Paris through the LGV Poitiers-Limoges.

In the past, the Rodez and Aveyron rail network was part of the company of the Chemins de fer du Midi. Formerly, there was a second station, that of "Paraire" below the current Lycée Foch, close to the city centre but closed in the 1970s. Today, there is no service there.

Transport: Road Rodez is the central point of numerous bus routes coming from the department or bordering departments. Indeed, there are currently nearly 60 routes.

Transport: Air Rodez is served by the nearby Rodez Marcillac Airport, located within the commune of Salles-la-Source. The international airport of Rodez-Aveyron is the third airport of the Occitanie region after Toulouse and Tarbes, and the main platform of the south of the Massif Central, with direct scheduled flights to: • Paris-Orly • Southampton Airport • Dublin • Bruxelles-Charleroi.

Transport: Public The city has had a longstanding public transport system, the tramway of Rodez  having circulated from 1902 to 1920. Nowadays, these journeys are made by buses. Agglobus is the transit network serving the communes of the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Rodez, nearly 60,000 people, where a multiple purchase ticket shall not exceed €0.20. It allows service to the centre of Rodez from outside communes (and vice versa) before 8am with a time range for operation of the service between 7am (5am for some lines) and 8pm. These lines have scheduled timing. This network is complemented by an evening service that operates Monday to Saturday, from 8pm to 11:30pm, by a transport service scheduled running Monday to Saturday with two round trips per day, and for persons with reduced mobility which works at the same times as the bus network. The Rodez topography makes it difficult to create special lanes for buses. As such, the Agglobus network is equipped with a system of prioritisation at traffic lights and also a geolocation for buses.

Postal transport Rodez has had an operational sorting centre since July 2009. It receives about 400,000 letters every day and processes 14 per second. All of the letters posted from Rodez to a destination within the agglomeration and its own region are delivered the next morning. Courier services, international and domestic carriers are also present in Rodez. The city has three post offices with its central office located in the city centre, at Place Foch, near the cathedral. Other branches are located in the suburbs as well as in the Bourran Quarter. In addition, other communes forming the urban agglomeration of the Grand Rodez also have their post offices, including the Aveyron sorting centre located in the commune of Onet-le-Château.

Urban morphology Rodez is an ancient city, the road becomes gradually narrower as it approaches Vieux-Rodez  [Old Rodez] and the remains of the ancient city fortress are still strongly present in the form of ramparts. Its hyper-centre is extended over many streets and pedestrian alleys between the squares of Place du Bourg, Place de l'Olmet, Place de la Cité and the Place de la Madeleine, one discovers typical houses in a mostly preserved historical setting. In these squares markets or fairs are held while the Passage du Mazel hosts a daily trade of fresh and seasonal produce. Pedestrian streets, very concentrated in the old centre, today are a place of life with many commercial signs. Beyond, Avenue Victor-Hugo  is a long straight avenue lined with trees, leading to a central hub, the Place d'Armes, to access the boulevards on the periphery of the city centre. Road traffic is carried around the walls located on the boulevards of Estourmel, Belle Isle, Denys Puech and Flaugergues encircling the centre and served by streets parallel to this historic heart.

Beyond Vieux-Rodez, the city expanded during the 20th century. To meet the demands of the era, new neighbourhoods and economic zones were developed. Rodez was, during the post-war period, an average city that had the most buildings beyond its circular boulevards. Finally, the creation of the Bourran Viaduct allowed the extension of the city beyond the Auterne Valley.[note 2]

The town of Rodez is part of the Grands Sites de Midi-Pyrénées. It continues to work to obtain the label Ville d'Art et d'Histoire and wishes to file its candidacy for UNESCO world heritage. Thus, the historic centre, and joined developments, are designed to meet the criteria of these institutions.

Housing Rodez has many rental housing units. In addition, the average of new housing has four rooms. Its housing stock remains fairly young, 59% of dwellings are from subsequent to World War II. Despite this, planning is progressing day by day and the homes and other premises have increased by 23% each year. As regards social housing, and particularly the SRU Act  which introduced a minimum quota of 20% social housing for cities, Rodez had 10% in 2007 and stagnated at around 12% in 2011.

Quadrilatère Combarel The now demolished old Combarel hospital will be replaced by housing and green spaces. Since the 19th century, the Combarel hospital enjoyed a privileged location in the heart of the city and at the centre of the agglomeration. The purchase of the former hospital by the agglomeration of Grand Rodez aims to impose the site as a centre of activity of the city, as it once was. A conversion will redraw all of the area and allow it to become a real neighbourhood to live, in order to revitalise the heart of the metropolitan area of Grand Rodez. The district wants a place with trees and green space, in which can be found housing as well tertiary activities, shops. The whole of the 30,000 square metres (320,000 sq ft) area will be mid-residential and mid-institutional, probably with the construction of a new hotel. This area will be part of a construction complying with environmental standards. The project is based on maintaining, on the upper plateau, the entire quadrilatère and chapel, as well as the development of the former Capuchin convent.

Forail public garden The Foirail public garden, and the Esplanade du Foirail, is located in the heart of the city. Consisting of a large courtyard with various mood lighting, it can accommodate some entertainments and events (concerts, outdoor performances etc.). This place has coherence with the various cultural and economic facilities which are adjacent (Musée Soulages, festival hall, cinema multiplex and the centre of L'Amphitheatre). Finally, the public garden located nearby, having gained 20% more land after the redevelopment of the area, offers different walks around the different peripheral facilities.

Multiplex cinema The multiplex consists of 10 cinema rooms with between 68 and 404 seats, spread over two levels with a total of 1580 seats opened in November 2013. Double access (next to the Giratoire de l'Europe and Avenue Victor-Hugo). A fast food area as well as a night beerhouse are integrated within the confines of the cinema centre having also two other shops.

Underground parking To allow the population to take advantage of the cultural and economic facilities and hold a means of parking for people working in the centre of Rodez, entirely underground parking totalling 400 spaces was built at a depth of 10 metres (33 ft), and on two levels, under the Esplanade des Ruthènes. It opened at the same time as the multiplex.

Exhibition park This project, scheduled for the commune of Olemps will open its doors in the second half of 2016, after work which will begin in 2015. This will be designed to host cultural performances, economic events or conferences, with a set of 3,000 seats.

Toponymy In antiquity, during the Roman occupation, the city was named Segodunum. The roots being sego "strong"[note 3] and dunum "hill", where Segodunum "high hill, stronghold" is at the origin of the Gaulish name of Rodez.

During the middle to the end of the Roman Empire, the city was called Civitas Rutenorum, the city of the Rutènes. Then, it became Ruteni and finally Rodez.

Rodez is locally pronounced ""Rodess" [ʀodɛs] in French. That is explained by the spelling of the city in Occitan: Rodés, pronounced "Rroodess" [rruˈðes]. Rodez was spelled with a final z, instead of s, to maintain the closed e of Occitan and to prevent it from becoming silent.

History Existing from at least the 5th century BC, Rodez was founded by the Celts. After the Roman occupation, the oppidum (fortified place) was renamed Segodunum, while in late Imperial times it was known as Civitas Rutenorum, whence the modern name. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was captured by the Visigoths and then by the Franks, being also ravaged by the Arabs in 725. Later it was occupied by the armies of the Dukes of Aquitaine and of the Counts of Toulouse. English troops occupied Rodez during the Hundred Years War.

However, in medieval times the city's history was marked by strong rivalry between the Counts and the Bishops of Rodez, who exerted their authorities in different sectors of the city, divided by a wall. The counts were able to defy the royal French authority until the submission of count John IV by the future King Louis XI in the 15th century. In the following century bishop François d'Estaing built the Rodez Cathedral.

The last count of Rodez, Henry VI of Rodez, who became Henry IV of France, sold his title to the Royal Crown in 1589. The city remained a flourishing merchant centre up to the 18th century, when the nearby town Villefranche-de-Rouergue was made the seat of the experimental Provincial Estates of the Haute-Guyenne. However, with the French Revolution Rodez became the chef-lieu of the newly created department of the Aveyron and has remained so since.

Antiquity Rodez is a city of more than two millennia: its existence dates back to the 5th century BC, when a Celtic tribe of Central Europe, the Ruteni, stopped in the south of Auvergne to found one of these characteristic oppida of the Gallic civilization, that of Segodunum. Many elements of heritage bear witness to the Romanisation of Segodunum.

While Christianity spread in the wake of the evangelising activity of Saint Amans, the city witnessed and at times suffered during, the less stable times that following the fall of the Roman Empire.

History: Middle Ages Rodez was successively occupied by the Visigoths, the Franks, the armies of the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Toulouse, as well as by the Moors, who seized Rodez in 725, and damaged the ancient church. Years later, it was the English who captured Rodez, during the Hundred Years' War.

The history of the city remained marked for a long time by an intense rivalry between the Counts of Rodez, who dominated the town extra-muros, and the Bishops of Rodez, who dominated intra-muros. A wall separated the two sectors. Each community had a town hall, its consuls, and its own administration; each competing for power. To the town, the famous dynasty of the Counts of Armagnac and Rodez, eventually acquired sovereign privileges: Coining money at the Martelenque Tower, wearing the crown and persisting to recognise the antipope Benedict XIII and his heirs Bernard Garnier and Jean Carrier, for a time. This led inevitably to confrontation with the King of France in 1443. The dauphin, the future Louis XI, came to occupy Rodez and submit Count Jean IV. Later his son would have a seditious idea, trying to betray Louis XI. This caused him to be killed in Lectoure, with his family, during his escape.

Early Modern era At the beginning of the 16th century, Rodez was marked by Bishop François d'Estaing  (from one of the most famous families of Rouergue). He finished the work of construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Rodez. He added the architectural masterpiece that is the bell tower, at 87 metres (285 ft), topped by a Virgin, yet today the highest bell tower, without a spire, in France. The works were completed in the fifteen years between 1510 and 1526 and this despite the plague ravaging the city.

The rivalry between the two powers somewhat served the development of Rodez. Despite the testimonies that are its many made Gothic masterpieces from the 13th to the 16th century, the city has not really experienced long periods of prosperity. In 1589, Henri IV, Count of Rodez, attached the destiny of the County of Rodez to the Crown. The story of Rodez then copied that of France. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Rodez became a thriving market city.

Rodez was divided into 6 parishes: • Notre-Dame (cathedral, suburb) • Saint-Amans, including the hamlet of Pont-Viel, a large part of the territory of the current commune of Olemps (Olemps, La Mouline, Toizac, Linars, Benechou) and a part of the municipality of La Monastère (Foulhoubous) • Sainte-Catherine • La Madeleine (church demolished) • Saint-Martin-des-Prés (Layoule area) • Saint-Félix: The area of Saint-Felix, Calcomier, La Peyrinie, and the entire valley of the Fontanges stream located in the current municipality of Onet-le-Château (Canaguet, Fontanges, Floyrac, Labro, Vabre, Puech Baurez Flars)

Modern era The old rival of Rodez was Villefranche-de-Rouergue. The French Revolution took away Villefranche's role of administrative capital, for the benefit of Rodez, which became prefecture and chef-lieu district  of the new department of Aveyron due to its central position. The religious heritage of the city was only partially degraded.

In June 1792, the scientists of the time cared about to know the exact measurement of the metre. Rodez would be a "central" element to accomplish this measure. Indeed, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre was responsible for measuring the distance from Dunkirk to Rodez, while Pierre Méchain was the one measuring between Barcelona and Rodez. They were to meet in Rodez to combine their results and determine the value of the metre. In 1793, at Montjouy in Barcelona, Méchain detected an inconsistency between the recorded lengths and an astronomical survey of the position of the stars. The Franco-Spanish war prevented him from repeating measurements. This difference (which was in fact not due to a handling error but the uncertainty of the instruments used) plunged him into deep trouble and he made every effort to avoid having to report on his work in Paris. In 1799, he resigned himself to attend an international conference which welcomed his scientific work. In 1798, the Société centrale d'agriculture de l'Aveyron  was created.

Under the Bourbon Restoration, the Affaire Fualdès  (regarding the murder of Antoine Bernardin Fualdès) included a highly controversial trial and executions. Rodez received many journalists, on this occasion, who described the behaviour of Rodez people from a very subjective standpoint.

The 19th century also experienced a cultural revival. In 1836, the Society of Letters, Sciences and Arts of Aveyron  was founded on the initiative of Hippolyte de Barrau. The main leaders of the department were involved in the cultural life of the province. Modernisation of Rodez occurred very slowly during the 19th century. Little by little, Rodez evolved by affirming and developing its role as capital of the department of Aveyron from the 21st century, creating its own economy and independence, whilst remaining linked to Toulouse. Thus, from this period, many facilities have appeared such as the Jacques Puel Hospital, the development of the Rodez-Marcillac Airport platform, high-speed connections to Rodez, the Esplanade du Foirail with its multiplex cinemas, the Pierre Soulages Museum and its festival hall.

Intercommunality Rodez is the seat of the Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Rodez, whose headquarters is at 1 Place Adrien Rozier. Established in 1964 and incorporated in the district, it then became an agglomeration community on 20 December 1999. Today, it has eight communes.

The commune, an important part of the southern Massif Central, is also close to other cities located in the south-west such as Toulouse and Albi, as well as in the centre and north of the Massif Central such as Aurillac and Mende with which it forms the Estelle city network. Finally, one can note the existence of the Espace urbain Rodez-Decazeville.

Judicial and administrative authorities The town of Rodez is the seat of the General Council of Aveyron and the Council of the community of the Grand Rodez. The conurbation has a fire service barracks, a municipal police force, an SAMU and an SMUR (both medical emergency services), a poison control centre and a remand prison while the State administers the prefecture of the department, and a gendarmerie brigade. A new remand prison will be located in the commune of Druelle in July 2013 with a capacity of about 100 male inmates, including a capacity of ten for people eligible for day parole. Finally, the administrations of the State are present in Rodez (tax office, Bank of France, social security, family allowance, etc.).

For the courts, it has an instance tribunal and a high court  with an assizes court, a tribunal of commerce, an industrial tribunal and a juvenile court. The court of appeal is located in Montpellier.