- Montans
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Montans
MontansAdministration Country France Region Midi-Pyrénées Department Tarn Arrondissement Albi Canton Gaillac Intercommunality Tarn and Dadou Mayor Gilles Crouzet
(2008–2014)Statistics Elevation 95–209 m (312–686 ft)
(avg. 106 m/348 ft)Land area1 32.43 km2 (12.52 sq mi) Population2 1,240 (2006) - Density 38 /km2 (98 /sq mi) INSEE/Postal code 81171/ 81600 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°52′02″N 1°53′10″E / 43.8672222222°N 1.88611111111°E
Montans (Occitan: Montant, meaning steep) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.
Contents
Geography
Situated between Lisle-sur-Tarn and Gaillac, near the A68 autoroute. The village is built at the end of a terrace overlooking the Tarn. It produces wine whose appellation is Gaillac AOC.
History
The site of Montans was occupied by a Gallic oppidum. Already, the Gauls were producing pottery on the site since the environment was favorable with the alluvium covering the terrace containing pockets of clay. Following the Roman occupation, the site became in the beginning of AD one of the most important centers of pottery production in the Gallo-Roman world. The pottery was exported, mostly by water down the Tarn and Garonne rivers all the way to places like Brittany and Great Britain.
Tourism
L'Archéosite is a museum and documentation center, with an exhibition of pottery from Antiquity and a reconstitution of a Gallo-Roman street and shops leading to the potter's house.
On the bank of the Tarn river, Guest houses offer bedrooms and dinners, such as at the Aigue Verte for example.
See also
- Communes of the Tarn department
- Tourism in Tarn
References
Categories:- Communes of Tarn
- Tarn geography stubs
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