Sète
Encyclopedia
Sète is a commune
in the Hérault
department in Languedoc-Roussillon
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 sea-side resort on the Mediterranean Sea
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
, Hervé Di Rosa
, Manitas de Plata
, and Robert Combas
.
, 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.
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.
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 25 minutes by train from Montpellier
, and is also served by long distance trains to Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Paris. Car ferries ply between Sète and Morocco.
, a César Award
-winning movie about Tunisian immigrants, was set in Sète.
Sète was the birthplace of:
, Germany, since 1986. El Jadida
, Morocco, since 1992. Cetara, Italy, since 2003.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Hérault
Hérault
Hérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
department in Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Its inhabitants are called Sétois.
Known as the Venice of Languedoc and the singular island (in Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
's words), it is a port and a sea-side resort on the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
with its own very strong cultural identity, traditions, cuisine and dialect. It is also the hometown of artists like Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
, Jean Vilar
Jean Vilar
Jean Vilar was a French man of the theatre, who created in 1947 the Avignon theatre festival.After he gave up his literature studies, in 1932 he followed in Paris a course of philosophy of Alain and the theatre courses of Charles Dullin...
, Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
, Hervé Di Rosa
Hervé Di Rosa
Hervé Di Rosa is a French painter.Born in Sète, France, Hervé Di Rosa is a French painter who brings to life the unique characters who populate his work through the making of paintings, sculptures, installations, animation movies, editions, portraying these unique individuals. In America we had...
, Manitas de Plata
Manitas de Plata
Manitas de Plata . is a French Gitano flamenco guitarist.-Life:He was born in a Gypsy caravan in Sète in southern France...
, and Robert Combas
Robert Combas
Robert Combas is a French painter and sculptor, born May 25, 1957 in Lyon, France and now living and working in Paris.He is widely recognized as a progenitor of the figuration libre movement that began in Paris around 1980 as a reaction to the art establishment in general and minimalism and...
.
History
- The name first appeared in:
- PtolemyPtolemyClaudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
(Geography II.10.2.) : Σήτιον ὄρος - AvienusAvienusAvienus was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. According to an inscription from Bulla Regia, his full name was Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius.He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi...
(Ora Maritima) : Setius... mons - The maps of AnianeAnianeAniane is a commune in the Hérault department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.-Population:-See also:* Benedict of Aniane* Pont du Diable, Hérault* Mas de Daumas Gassac*Communes of the Hérault department...
: fiscum..qui nuncupatur Sita
- Ptolemy
- July 29, 1666 : the first stone is officially set on the Saint-Louis pier.
- 1681 : completion of the Canal du MidiCanal du MidiThe is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...
. - 1684 : VaubanVaubanSébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
visits the port. - 1703 : Saint-Louis church is consecrated.
- 24–26 July 1710 : during the War of the Spanish SuccessionWar of the Spanish SuccessionThe War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
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 MontpellierMontpellier-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
-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 LombardyLombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
and apprentice baker in Sète stabs to death president Sadi CarnotSadi CarnotSadi Carnot may refer to:*Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot , French physicist*Marie François Sadi Carnot , president of the third French Republic, and nephew of Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot...
in LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. - 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 1Ligue 1Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....
and Coupe de FranceCoupe de FranceThe Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...
and becomes the first club to win both the same year. - May 1923 1939 : the Sinaïa leaves the port with Spanish Republicans seeking asylum in Lazaro CardenasLázaro CárdenasLázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...
's Mexico. - November 12, 1942 : the town is occupied by the German troops of the WehrmachtWehrmachtThe Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. - June 25, 1944 : bombing of Sète's train station, Balaruc-les-BainsBalaruc-les-BainsBalaruc-les-Bains is a commune in the Hérault department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France.-Population:-See also:*Communes of the Hérault department* Balaruc* Étang de Thau* Communauté d'agglomération du Bassin de Thau-References:...
's and FrontignanFrontignanFrontignan la Peyrade 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.-Sights:...
's oil refineries by the American 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force. - August 20, 1944 : liberation of Sète.
- July 11, 1947 : The ocean liner President-Wardfield leaves for Palestine with 4 530 Jews who survived the ShoahShoahShoah may refer to:*The Holocaust*Shoah , documentary directed by Claude Lanzmann * A Shoah Foundation...
. The port official M. Leboutet had authorised captain Ike AronowiczIke AronowiczYitzhak "Ike" Aronowicz was the captain of the immigrant ship SS Exodus, which unsuccessfully tried to dock in British-occupied Palestine with Holocaust survivors on July 11, 1947, after the end of World War II...
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 from the coast, they were stopped by 5 British torpedo boats. 75 passengers accepted asylum in France, while the others were brought to HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
via GibraltarGibraltarGibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
. - 1960 : the Théâtre de la Mer is built.
- 1962 : opening of the technical college Joliot-CurieJoliot-CurieJoliot-Curie may refer to more than one person:* Frédéric Joliot-Curie- a French physicist and Nobel prize-winner* Irène Joliot-Curie - his wife and joint prize-winner with her husband...
- 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 BrassensGeorges BrassensGeorges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
, 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-RoussillonLanguedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
manages the port of Sète.
Patron Saint
In 1703, when the Saint-Louis church was consecrated, Louis IXLouis IX
Louis IX may refer to:* Louis IX of France .* Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria "the Rich" * Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt ....
, patron of the port, also became the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the town. He has been celebrated every year on August 25, with canal jousting
Sea jousting
Water jousting is a sport practised principally in France and also Switzerland and Germany. It is a form of jousting where the adversaries carrying a lance and protected only by a shield stand on a platform on the stern of a boat. The boat is propelled by oarsmen or, in some cases, a motor may be...
competitions, music and fireworks, except during wartime.
Geography
Étang de Thau
Étang de Thau or Bassin de Thau is the largest of a string of étangs that stretch along the Languedoc-Roussillon, French coast from the Rhône River to the foothills of the Pyrenees which form the border to Spain. It is the second largest lake in France.-Description:It is about 21 km long...
, an enclosed salt water lake used primarily for oyster and mussel fields. To its other side lies the Mediterranean.
Transport
Canal du Midi
The is a long canal in Southern France . The canal connects the Garonne River to the on the Mediterranean and along with the Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau...
, and the ending point of the Canal du Rhône à Sète
Canal du Rhône à Sète
The Canal du Rhône à Sète is a canal in southern France, which connects the Étang de Thau in Sète to the Rhône River in Beaucaire, Gard. At the entrance to the Étang de Thau, the canal connects with the Canal du Midi....
. Its train station Gare de Sète
Gare de Sète
Gare de Sète is the railway station serving the town of Sète in the Hérault département of southern France. It is the eastern terminus of the Bordeaux–Sète railway.-Train services:As of August 2011 the following services call at Sète:...
is approximately 25 minutes by train from Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, and is also served by long distance trains to Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille and Paris. Car ferries ply between Sète and Morocco.
Culture
The Secret of the GrainThe Secret of the Grain
The Secret of the Grain is a 2007 Franco-Tunisian drama film directed by Abdel Kechiche. The film stars Habib Boufares as an ageing immigrant from the Maghreb whose ambition to establish a successful restaurant as an inheritance for his large and disparate family meets sceptical opposition from...
, a César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
-winning movie about Tunisian immigrants, was set in Sète.
Notable people
- Paul ValéryPaul ValéryAmbroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
(1871–1945), author and poet of the Symbolist school - Jean VilarJean VilarJean Vilar was a French man of the theatre, who created in 1947 the Avignon theatre festival.After he gave up his literature studies, in 1932 he followed in Paris a course of philosophy of Alain and the theatre courses of Charles Dullin...
(1912–1971), actor and stage director creator of the Avignon theatre festival - Georges BrassensGeorges BrassensGeorges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
(1921–1981), singer and songwriter - Robert CombasRobert CombasRobert Combas is a French painter and sculptor, born May 25, 1957 in Lyon, France and now living and working in Paris.He is widely recognized as a progenitor of the figuration libre movement that began in Paris around 1980 as a reaction to the art establishment in general and minimalism and...
(born 1957), sculptor and painterPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is... - Gregory Del PieroGregory Del PieroGregory Del Piero is a French music producer and DJ.Gregory Del Piero started as a DJ in 1987. In the summer of 1998, he met the world famous Joe Claussell of Body & Soul, from New York City, while Joe was on tour in France...
(born 1972), producer and DJ - Manitas de PlataManitas de PlataManitas de Plata . is a French Gitano flamenco guitarist.-Life:He was born in a Gypsy caravan in Sète in southern France...
(born 1921), one of the most renowned flamenco guitarists in the world
Twin towns
Sète is twinned with: Neuburg an der DonauNeuburg an der Donau
Neuburg an der Donau, literally Neuburg on the Danube River, is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.-Divisions:The municipality has 16 divisions:-History:...
, Germany, since 1986. El Jadida
El Jadida
El Jadida is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in the province of El Jadida. It has a population of 144,440...
, Morocco, since 1992. Cetara, Italy, since 2003.
External links
- City council website
- Tourist office website
- lesjouteurs.com : Le Site du Pavois d'Or et des Joutes Languedociennes
- http://www.thauenimages.fr/CARTE_SETE.html Website of panoramic photos of Sète and its region