Castelnaudary (in Occitan Castèlnòu d' Arri ) is a common French, located in the department of the Aude and the area Languedoc-Roussillon. Castelnaudary is attached to old the province Lauragais, cradle of the Catharisme. The city is known for its Cassoulet, of which it is the world capital and for its Large Basin, important port on the Canal of the South.
Its inhabitants is called Chauriens.
Geography
Localization
Castelnaudary is located in the department of the
Aude between
Toulouse and
Carcassonne in full heart of the
Lauragais of which it was the capital before the creation of the departments in 1790. The commune is sprinkled by the Fresquel, the Tréboul and the Canal of the South. The city is not far from the Seuil of Naurouze, place of division of water of the
Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. It is in the plain of the
Lauragais with in north the buttresses of the Black Montagne and in the south the hills of the Trap which precede the buttresses by the
the Pyrenees. Castelnaudary is in the middle of the Lauragais furrow in its broadest part (approximately 8 km). In the west, the furrow is prolonged towards
Toulouse and is closed again on the level of the threshold of Naurouze. In the east, it is closed again gradually until
Carcassonne. It is also the largest commune of Lauragais with: 10851 inhabitants and it is the capital today after
Laurac holds this statute until the 14th century.
The surface of the commune is of 47 km ², which is a large commune compared with the many small communes of the Aude. The communes bordering are: Ricaud, Farmhouse-Holy-Puelles, Villeneuve-the-Comptal, Fendeille, Mireval-Lauragais, Saint-Martin-Lalande, Saint-Papoul, Issel, Peyrens, Souilhe and Souilhanels.
Transportation routes and transport
Castelnaudary is located on the main axis between
Bordeaux and
Narbonne. The commune is accessible by the left highway A61 and by the Trunk road 113 connecting
Toulouse to
Narbonne. The secondary road 624 gives access the North-West
Albi while passing by Revel then by Castres. In the North-West, the secondary road 103 joined
Saissac then
Mazamet by the secondary road 118. In the south, the secondary road 6 joined Mirepoix then
Foix by the secondary road 119 in
Ariège. Lastly, the secondary road 623 gives access
Limoux in the department of the
Aude. The highway network around Castelnaudary is mainly concentrated in the Lauragais furrow with a61 highway and the trunk road 113. These two axes are strongly borrowed for ways residence-work. Indeed, of many inhabitants of Castelnaudary and the area lauragaise work on Toulouse increasing a flow residence-work between Castelnaudary and Toulouse in full growth. This axis is also borrowed in holiday period for long ways. But this flow forwards primarily by the highway. The secondary axes towards north and the south are borrowed because they carry out towards declining rural regions