Agen

French commune
nomcommune=Agen


caption=Agen in 1877 by Louis Ducos du Hauron.
région=Aquitaine
département=Lot-et-Garonne
arrondissement=Agen
canton=
insee=47001
cp=47000
maire=Alain Veyret
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Agen
longitude=0.621153
latitude=44.204931
alt moy=48 m
alt mini=37
alt maxi=162 m
hectares=1149
km²=11.49
sans=30,170
date-sans=1999
dens=2626
date-dens=1999

Agen (IPA2|aʒɛ̃) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in the Aquitaine region in southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne 84 miles southeast of Bordeaux. It is the prefecture of the department.

Economy

The town has a higher level of unemployment than the national average. Major employers include UPSA, the pharmaceutical factory.

ights

The old centre of town contains a number of medieval buildings.

The 12th century Agen Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Caprasius, is one of the barest handful of large churches in France with a double nave; the curious and impractical plan may be a regional trait, since one of the others is the Church of the Jacobins in relatively nearby Toulouse.

The Saint Hilaire church, dedicated to the theme of the Holy Trinity which the Saint in question did a lot to defend, is notable for its unusual statues in front of the Church - Moses on the right, and St Peter on the left.

The Fine Arts museum, Musée des Beaux Arts contains artefacts furniture and sculptures from prehistoric times onwards. The painting galleries contain several hundred works including several by Goya, and others by Bonnard, Seurat... The collection also contains a large number of works by artists who lived locally. The museum is made up of twenty or so rooms.

Entertainment

The municipal theatre "Théâtre du Courneau" presents theatre, and occasionally classical concerts. The smaller "Théâtre du jour" has a resident theatre company presenting a variety of recent or older plays (Shakespeare, Becket, as well as lesser known playwrights.

There are two cinemas, one a commercial multiscreened affair, the other an arts cinema run by a voluntary organization. The latter organizes film festivals every year.

port

Rugby is extremely popular in the town, and the SUA, the local team, is enthusiastically supported. The town also serves as the base for the Team Lot-et-Garonne cycling team.

Press

For many decade "Le petit bleu" has been the daily newspaper, with stories of local or national interest.

Transportation

Agen is connected by the A62 motorway to both Toulouse and Bordeaux. By train it is around an hour from Toulouse, and around an hour from Bordeaux. Fast trains to Paris take four hours and ten minutes.It has a very small airport mostly used for business flights and leisure flying.

Diocese

Agen is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese that comprises the Département of Lot and Garonne. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bordeaux.

Miscellaneous

Agen is the "capital of the prune", a local produce sold as a sweet (stuffed with prune purée) or as an after-dinner delight (prunes soaked in Armagnac - a type of brandy). Every September, the Prune festival organizes rock concerts, circuses and prune tasting.

Births

Agen was the birthplace of:
* Alain Aspect (born 1947), physicist
* Bernard Palissy (c. 1510-1590), potter - according to some accounts, he may have been born in Saintes
* Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), scholar
* Pierre Dupuy (1582-1651), scholar
* Godefroi, Comte d'Estrades (1607-1686), diplomatist and marshal
* Bernard Germain Étienne comte de La Ville-sur-Illon La Cépède (1756-1825), naturalist
* Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1780-1846), naturalist
* Jacques Jasmin (1798-1864), Provençal poet
* Joseph Chaumié (1849-1919), politician
* Michel Serres (born 1930), philosopher and author
* Jacques Sadoul (born 1934), author
* Jean Cruguet (born 1939), jockey who won the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
* Francis Cabrel (born 1953), singer-songwriter and guitarist
* Bernard Campan (born 1958), actor and film director
* Stéphane Rideau (born 1976), actor

Twin towns

Agen is twinned with:
* Tuapse, Russia
* Dinslaken, Germany
* Llanelli, Wales
* Toledo, Spain
* Corpus Christi, USA, Texas

ee also

* St Faith
* SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne, a French rugby union club based in Agen
* Agenais, or "Agenois", a former province of France

ources and external links

* [http://www.ville-agen.fr/ site de la ville]
* [http://www.ot-agen.org/ office de tourisme]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01209b.htm Diocese of Agen] - Catholic Encyclopedia article