- Sète
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Sète
Sète from Mont St-Clair. 
SèteAdministration Country France Region Languedoc-Roussillon Department Hérault Arrondissement Montpellier Canton Sète-1 and Sète-2 Intercommunality Bassin de Thau Mayor François Commeinhes Statistics Elevation 0–176 m (0–577 ft)
(avg. 4 m/13 ft)Land area1 24.21 km2 (9.35 sq mi) Population2 42,972 (2007) - Density 1,775 /km2 (4,600 /sq mi) INSEE/Postal code 34301/ 34200 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. Coordinates: 43°24′19″N 3°41′51″E / 43.405278°N 3.6975°E
Sète (Seta in Occitan) 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.
Contents
History
- The name first appeared in:
- 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 1923 1939 : the Sinaïa leaves the port with Spanish Republicans seeking asylum in Lazaro Cardenas'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 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 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 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.
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.
Geography
Canal Royal.
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.
A tourist lobsters up on Sete beachTransport
Lighthouse.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.
Culture
The Secret of the Grain, a César Award-winning movie about Tunisian immigrants, was set in Sète.
Notable people
Octopus fountain.Sète was the birthplace of:
- Paul Valéry (1871–1945), author and poet of the Symbolist school
- Jean Vilar (1912–1971), actor and stage director creator of the Avignon theatre festival
- Georges Brassens (1921–1981), singer and songwriter
- Robert Combas (born 1957), sculptor and painter
- Gregory Del Piero (born 1972), producer and DJ
- Manitas de Plata (born 1921), one of the most renowned flamenco guitarists in the world
Twin towns
Sète is twinned with:
Neuburg an der Donau, Germany, since 1986.
El Jadida, Morocco, since 1992.
Cetara, Italy, since 2003.
External links
- City council website (French)
- Tourist office website
- lesjouteurs.com : Le Site du Pavois d'Or et des Joutes Languedociennes
- [1] Website of panoramic photos of Sète and its region
Categories:- Communes of Hérault
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