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Agde (525 BCE) is one of the oldest towns in France, after Béziers (575 BCE) and Marseille (600 BCE).[4]
Agde (Agathe Tyche, "good fortune") was a 5th-century BCE Greek colony settled by Phocaeans from Massilia.
2,500 years ago, the Hérault river had three arms : "grau de Vias", "grau d'Agde", "grau d'Ambonne"; a delta was formed in the middle of Agde volcanoes [fr], and the eastern arm was leading to the Bagnas pond (occitan name Banhas), which was largely drained in the Middle Ages when mills were built with constant flow on the main arm (the bishop's mill still remains).[5]
The Greek name was Agathe (Ancient Greek: Ἀγάθη).[6][7] The symbol of the city, the bronze Ephebe of Agde, of the 4th century BCE, recovered from the fluvial sands of the Hérault, was joined in December 2001 by two Early Imperial Roman bronzes, of a child and of Eros, which had possibly been on their way to a villa in Gallia Narbonensis when they were lost in a shipwreck.
Development
The inlet in the Hérault river, Grau d'Agde, became from the Antique to the Eighteenth century period the most important port in this occitanian region of the Mediterranée for trade.[8]
From the beginning of the fifth century (until the French Revolution), the city of Agde developed in the upstream area that was not subject to flooding and was the seat of a bishopric.[9][10] But "It was subjugated by the Roman Empire, the Visigoths [from Italy] and the Saracens [from Spain] before becoming definitively Christian in 759."[11]
Around the beginning of the 13th century, the town was administered by consuls, a forerunner of modern municipalities. Development took place on the main rock, sheltered from flooding, and urban districts appeared, with the concept of the urban island, named after the person who paid the highest tax to the king and the bishopric.[12] The town was divided into two parts: the part on the rock and the part around the rock, where farmland was divided into hamlets of properties around churches.[12]
The fortifications appeared in the 12th century around the rock, in the 14th century extended around the town;[10] During the French Revolution of 1848 the fortifications were demolished except for the small part next to the current Tourist Office.[11]
At the end of the 16th century the lieutenant-general of Languedoc Joyeuse built Fort Brescou. Later Cardinal Richelieu undertook the construction of a roadstead for an Harbour, a strategic point in the Mediterranean area. The work, made difficult by the gradual silting up of the coastline, was abandoned after the death of the Cardinal. Fort Richelieu remains in place.[8]
The paths and squares are named in Occitan, with French added over time, streets have existed since the French Revolution, when the population and birthplaces were registered.[13]
Until the French Revolution, Agde was owned by the bishopric: through the wars of religion all seigniorial possessions become the property of the episcopate.[14] And until then Vias[15] was part of the commune
and until the seventeenth century, the part of the Étang de Thau up to and including Sète was part of the diocese; further north it is the diocese of the bishop of the most important Maguelone cathedral [fr].[16][17] Today only the chapter house remains in Agde.[18]
At the end of the 18th century, when tall sail ships gave way to motor merchant ships, Agde changed its activity towards the exploitation of the land, market gardening, olives and fruits. The local viticulture then experienced is one of its greatest moments of prosperity until the phylloxera.[8][19]
With the transition to the steam engine, the port of Agde became a shipping point for foodstuffs, it was connected to the railway on a state planning decision concerning the Canal du Midi;[20] The floating bridges before the suspension iron bridge 1836 are the solution to the overflow of the Hérault (the entry carries a tax for 9 years).[21]
The episcopal palace is cut in two for the passage of the bridge - the right part became the actual Hôtel de la Galiote, the left part the gendarmerie and the prison (which were demolished in 1982) -.[22]
In the 19th century the old 17th century ice houses of Agde became reservoirs allowing the distribution of water by pumping through cast iron pipes.[23] But because of the sometimes brackish water pumped into the town from the Hérault river (depending on the season and the drought), the municipal water supply sometimes failed;[24] In 1966, an alluvial resource from the bed of the coastal river was installed 4 km upstream from the town. This was necessary because of the new development of the modern seaside resort.[25]
Public lighting using electricity (from the Moulin des Evèques) in Agde was planned in 1890 (electricity in a low head dam was also installed by Laurens in his Château). In 1929 the Compagnie de Distribution Electrique du Midi took over the municipal and private contract. In 1946 Électricité de France manages the electricity factory (production stops in 1951).[26]
At the 19th century Belle Epoque, in the mediterranean shore, the development of the French Riviera with the Train Bleu[27][28] instituted winter aristocratic cosmopolitan tourism since 1880 around Monaco and its grand hotels;[29] An Agatha native Emmanuel Laurens,[30] an inherited millionaire, bought the "St Gervais Villa" in Saint-Raphaël, Var (1898).[31][32] In the same time he builds in Agde "Belle-Isle" the "Château Laurens", the marquant concrete Art Nouveau building in Occitania, with its private train station.[9]
In the old town center, the 1960s municipality had to rebuild the entire infrastructure due to decrepitude and population growth.[24] 1969,the local abbatoirs are closed.
After immediate World War II the summer mass tourism was created in campsites and in 1960s' some very large and high residences were integrated in the "new urbanism".[33]
Actual shore development in Occitania began in the 60's following first waterfront in Grau d'Agde with numerous campsites.[34]
The Mission Racine aimed to revitalize the economy of the region between Béziers and Sète, and make Cap d'Agde "the holiday port of Toulouse", the decrepit little town of Agde fully depends on Béziers.[35][36]
The main marina (Port) was designed next to the location of the cape small fishing port (Cap d'Agde). It replaces the former salt marsh, in use 1912-1916.[37] The fishing port of the Hérault river has been modernised with its professional fish market hall.[38] The river's shipyards, which are mixed with pleasure boats and small fishing boats, succeeded the wooden boat yards. "1960: The president's plan is actually to make from the coast of Occitania the "French Florida".[39][40]
The heads of the inter-ministerial mission developed collective facilities to attract the greatest number of tourists: holiday centres and camps of the nationalised PTT, EDF, SNCF; holiday village houses with Belgian, Netherlands, German investments. Campsites are created, one with the first naturist settlement in France. About leisure, tennis courts, discotheques, amusement parks (an aquatic park) are built. The National Forestry Office with arboriculturists (e.g. Vilmorin) contributed to the creation of green spaces in the resort, and reforestation. Hundreds of thousands of seedlings are then distributed free of charge to individuals.[41]
The naturist campsite became an important tourist complex outside the city, and in its vicinity the tennis courts was the major theme for the development of housing estates.
Since 2007 the Sodéal (Economic development society of Agde and the coast (70% of capital owned by the town) ammenages the marinas on the Hérault river and the shore, main one Le Port de Cap d'Agde.[42]
Urban sprawl has been taking place for first twenty years of the 21th century between Le Cap and Grau d'Agde, and this latter place is densifying from its postwar existing hollydays habitat on small plots among large empty ones. In the 21st century, green spaces are reduced to housing and are no longer accessible to the public.
After the installation of basic urban networks, going further, in the same time, cycling infrastructure is reamenaged because of car traffic jams in the 2010s. And municipal car parks receive solar panels in 2017 2019.[43][44]
2021-2024 Project for extended railway station and the new marina[45] on the Canal du Midi started with destroying the retail buildings around Hôtel Riquet, the Agde offices of the canal's founder.[46]
Access to the city tunnel under the railroad line was opened in 2023, after two years of construction,[46] while the most central space, the Promenade and its market, is transformed with the digging of a scheduled car parking lot that began in 2023.[47]
Historical act in Agde : French Clergy and property
In the history of Roman Catholicism in France, the Council of Agde was held 10 September 506 at Agde, in Saint-André church, under the presidency of Caesarius of Arles. It was attended by thirty-five bishops, and its forty-seven genuine canons dealt "with ecclesiastical discipline". One of its canons (the seventh), forbidding ecclesiastics to sell or alienate the property of the church from which they derived their living, seems to be the earliest mention of the later system of benefices.[48][49]
Population
Agde's inhabitants are called Agathois.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
6,744
—
1800
6,744
+0.00%
1806
7,639
+2.10%
1821
7,726
+0.08%
1831
8,202
+0.60%
1836
8,230
+0.07%
1841
8,251
+0.05%
1846
8,884
+1.49%
1851
9,115
+0.51%
1856
9,439
+0.70%
1861
9,747
+0.64%
1866
9,586
−0.33%
1872
8,829
−1.36%
1876
8,251
−1.68%
1881
8,170
−0.20%
1886
8,446
+0.67%
1891
7,389
−2.64%
1896
8,478
+2.79%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1901
9,533
+2.37%
1906
8,435
−2.42%
1911
9,265
+1.89%
1921
8,325
−1.06%
1926
9,360
+2.37%
1931
9,605
+0.52%
1936
9,242
−0.77%
1946
7,592
−1.95%
1954
7,897
+0.49%
1962
8,751
+1.29%
1968
10,184
+2.56%
1975
11,605
+1.88%
1982
13,107
+1.75%
1990
17,583
+3.74%
1999
19,988
+1.43%
2007
21,104
+0.68%
2012
24,651
+3.16%
2017
28,609
+3.02%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The vineyards in Agde are among the oldest in France.[54]Viticulturists, winegrowers experienced the problems of viticulture in the 19th century with diseases. However, while Aramon was able to save the production situation (see the electric pump) in the region by cultivation near the sea,[55] the intensive production of wine in the colony of Algeria caused both the low profitability and the low quality of Agde wines among Languedoc zone. Production began to decline. And production has plummeted since the sea-resort was planned, as housing needs space. The Richemer Cellars were born from the merger of the cooperative cellars of Agde (1936)[56] and Marseillan (1934).[57] However, tourist festivals are still present in the 21st century,[58] including the Vinocap trade show, which brings together a hundred winegrowers.[59] Stores supply wine for tourists.[60] And if the last vineyard of Bagnas is now very small below Château Maraval[61] with the Meyer distillery in ruins, walking in is a planed tourist-office leisure nowadays; its wine is better for "connoisseurs", old grape varieties producing piquette have been abandoned.[62][63] This "Wine tourism" has been in full development for several years.[54]
The wine-growing area of the Bagnas reserve was reduced in 2019 with the urbanization of the border running from Château Maraval down to the naturist camp: the most expensive detached villas in the town are here, as well as those at the top of the Mont St Martin with panoramic sea views, which also had vineyards starting at Richelieu beach that disappeared with the urbanisation of 1970.
East of town, an area for the old wine traffic via the Canal du Midi and its old railway traffic, more recently there were stocks for the trade in building-materials.
On road towards Sète, since the 1970s, a specific area for building-materials stocks.
The Port of Cap d'Agde (main marina) was excavated following the Mission Racine [fr] in the old salt marsh, the Luno lagoon.[35]
The marina is delimited by the buildings that border it, each one with 100 apartments and around those the housing estates of 200 villas, and in the 2 cases hotels added.[66]
The marina has a single entrance, due to the south–north marine currents that silt it up. It is made up of two distinct parts, built around accessible and non-accessible islands.
The part between accessible Ile des Loisirs and non-accessible Ile St Martin is the part of the harbor where the boat's mooring ring to the quay is private and sold with the villa or apartment.
The part between Ile St Martin and accessible Ile des Pêcheurs is the part of the harbor where the boat's mooring ring is rented to the harbor master.[67]
There's also a second marina, Port Ambonne, a remnant of the dried-up eastern arm of the Hérault delta, known as Port Lano (old name Lano pound).[35] This is a port for the naturist camp. It is close to a heliport for safety operations at sea. Les Berges de l'Hérault are the historic riverbanks of the Hérault.[68]
Overall the car must be available for yachtsmen, and some of the places to live are built with an underground garage.
Fort de Brescou and lighthouse at the end of the pier
Houses on Ile St-Martin below buildings on Mont St-Martin and the green Mont St-Loup on the right
Main landmark in the marina : the campanile of the former Cap center 1970
After the creation of a camping in the farm for nudists receiving Belgian, German and Dutch families, the beach was officially designated as a naturist beach in 1973.[69]
The first development was the construction of apartments, stores and swimming pools in a paid-entry area. These massive concrete buildings did not comply with town-planning regulations, and the huge buildings have global form O and Y. Nudity was legal on the beach. A small commercial area was built before the entrance, the one that makes the camp self-sufficient after it, and housing estates grew up on the seafront, filling the land up to the vacation villages of 1975.
This complex is aside Port Lano and its marina.
Architecture
Agde is known for the distinctive black basalt used in local buildings such as the cathedral of Saint Stephen, built in the 12th century to replace a 9th-century Carolingian edifice built on the foundations of a fifth-century Romanchurch.
Bishop Guillaume fortified the cathedral's precincts and provided it with a 35-metre donjon (keep). The Romanesque cloister of the cathedral was demolished in 1857.
The sanctuary of Notre-Dame-du-Grau was once an ancient temple, for dévotion in the Antique. The Agenouillade (Kneel) is built after a miraculous prayer by Our Lady (Mary, mother of Jesus) to avoid flooding in Agde in the Sixteenth century.[71]
Near by the Agde Round Lock, aside the rail-way (with a special station for a private stop), Château Laurens is a splendid furnished villa, dandy residence. Inside is a gothic style "salon de concert" with original 19th century stained glass windows from Bézier's school.
[72]
All like some wine châteaux of Bordeaux were built in classic style due to winery riches, this one coming from an Agde vineyard income is in eclectic style.[73] it is the most beautiful concrete building in Occitania from Belle Epoque.[32]
But if it includes an electric power plant, it does not include a producer wine cellar.
The urban planning of the 60s in France for the new towns separates car traffic and pedestrian-cyclist traffic with some footbridges. For French resorts architecture, "Mediterranean style" sets the mood.[74][75][39] This vision of the popular vacation with its french social side is associated with the real estate. In this area, the way was given by the neighbor town Sète for its after-war development, mainly with the retail area of its harbour.[76]
The Bishops's Mill is now (2010) a cultural exhibition center, it was " a 13th-century building and former flour mill rehabilitated in the last century as a hydraulic factory and then as a "sardine factory".[77]
The cooperative winery is created in 1936, but merged in 1998 with the one of Marseillan,
activity in Marseillan, traffic on Béziers-Sète road.[78] It is transformed into offices and apartments in 2021.[79]
Former National and Municipal Police Station is founded in the old building of National Police in the town-center in 2004, the new one is an extension.
And the new establishment replacing the old one in Cap center is open in 2020 (cost 1,2 million€). [80][81]
The Musée de l'Éphebe was inaugurated in 1987 after a series of clandestine archaeological excavations of the Roman villa in front of the arena, culminating in the first official underwater archaeological museum.[82]
The modernist movement in the town design can be seen in social housing as well as institutional buildings such as retirement homes, hospital and hôtels.[83] During the "Trente Glorieuses", high schools were built for baby boomers, with their stadiums, gyms and swimming pools. In Agde, for example, the historic 1975 Sunflower swimming pool has been transformed into a yoga and gymnastics hall.[84]
In the 2000s the International Style is associated with wealth, and it appears in new construction sites with glass facades or rhythmically perforated metal facades, this becomes the decided new rule for the appearance of buildings to improve the value of the city with the aim of attracting more prosperous people to live there.[85]
The new municipal and departmental swimming pool L'Archipel, cité de l'eau, is created in 2011, a wooden structure, glass roof.[86]
The new Cap d'Agde Center was designed with first its casino and second its congress center. The designer is Jean-Michel Wilmotte (architect), with its twin Spanish-style esplanades (Barcelona) (2018 the first one, 2020 the twins), tall circular buildings with large crenellations on the upper floors plus interior gardens, a new annex of the town hall, a new post office, a new congress centre (architect Philippe Bonon [87] and Hervé di Rosa), a new tourist office, ground floors a shopping area (housing starts from 2020 to 2024).[88][89]
Circular Casino Barrière (architect Philippe Bonon), is the first built with the today redevelopment of the Ile des Loisirs.
[90]
The Maison des Savoirs, former Agde high school transferred to Paul Emile Victor school in Cap d'Agde site, is a Médiathèque, it is the transformation of the old school (built in the 19th century), the first phase was designed in 2000 by Denis Milhé, the second phase is that of Philippe Bonon, opened in 2020.[87]
The theatre, associated with the media library of the Maison des Savoirs has been rehabilitated since 2020,[91] the whole renovation of the esplanade starting from the Hérault and ending at the theatre will end in 2024.
Cap d'Agde Port traboule in the buildings, between boutiques and restaurants
Cap d'Agde iron bridge over road Beziers-Sète
Beach La Roquille, "front de mer" restaurants and sandwicheries, architecture 1970
History of the communities in Agde
Spanish community
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024)
Romani community
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024)
Jewish community
It is assumed that a Jewish community was established in the town around the sixth century AD. During the Council of Agde, assembled by the Catholic church in 506 AD, Christian laymen and ecclesiastics were prohibited from eating with Jews or hosting them. This prohibition suggests that the town Jews held good relations with their town neighbours. It is also assumed that the Jewish community was never large, since it did not own a cemetery and buried their dead in Béziers, three miles away.[93]
The Jewish name of the city was Agdi, or Akdi (אגדי).[94]
"In February 1939, Agde had a population of 9,000 when the army decided to build a camp at its gates to accommodate 25,000 Spanish “Retirada” republicans. When war was declared, they were replaced by soldiers from the Czechoslovak army, joined a year later by workers from Indochina. In May–June 1940, the town welcomed a large number of French refugees, as well as Belgians, Poles and Czechoslovakians, (including Jews), many of whom were interned in the camp."[96]
During World War II, about two thousand Jews from Germany and Austria were sent to the camp near the town; most were deported on 24 August 1942.[97]
Sport and leisure
The seaside resort of Agde has 14 km of sand for 10 beaches including 15 seasonal private beaches between Grau d'Agde and Port Ambonne.
In 1973 "Cap-d'Agde was the temple of the yellow ball in the camp created by Pierre Barthès, before being the Mecca of naturism".[39]
In 1993 the Mediterranean Games began in Cap d'Agde. To celebrate the memory of first 1601 historic tournament in town, in 2001 the city of Agde organised major festivities bringing together all the jousting societies of the region.[98]
Agde also has a rugby club, Rugby Olympique Agathois (ROA), who play in the French Federale 1 competition.
Administrative and budgetary structure
Since the 1960 Racine plan for national mass tourism, the town of Agde has been divided into 3 entities: Agde, Cap d'Agde and Grau d'Agde. However, there is only one town with no arrondissements, managed by a single council and a single mayor. Consequently, there is only one zip code.
In 2024, the town's responsibilities include town planning, building permits, social housing, parks, gardens and stadiums, and local roads. Police powers remain the responsibility of the municipalities even if Agde was one of the prototypes of the gathering in the same premises its municipal police, and the national police (2020),[100] and that the mayor is responsible for directing and planning emergency. One of the main problems since 2020 is the drinkable water supply on a too old network (1970) that leaks,[101] with the climatic problem of drougth.
The budget for all actions within this framework is provided mainly by local taxes on housing and industrial and commercial activity, (plus the garbage collection tax, for the "Sictom" waste collection center in Pézenas since 2014 for Agde[102]).
Since 2003, an Agglomeration of communities for the administration of 20 communes (with Agde 24,651 inhabitants and Pézenas 8,317 inhabitants (2012) as the main towns) has been founded under the name "Agglomération Hérault Méditerranée". "With a total population of 2,294 permanent residents and around 350,000 in season, this represents a surface area of 371 km2, 20km-long coastline."[103]
The declared competencies and responsibilities in place of the municipalities of the agglomeration are :
"Agriculture, Quality of life, Water and wastewater treatment, Budget management, Environment, Housing, Leisure and Arts and Crafts (Media libraries, Swimming-pool), Heritage, Public transport (Cap'Bus)."[104]
For Agde's old town, an urban contract for social cohesion (CUCS) was signed between the Hérault-Méditerranée agglomeration community and the French government in 2007.
Protecting people and property
Since January 1, 2018, the law has assigned the block of competencies relating to Water Environment Management and Flood Prevention (GEMAPI) to the agglomeration [and not to town halls]. The territory is particularly exposed to a double risk, of flooding on the one hand, with a rich hydrographic network including the Hérault river and its watershed, and on the other, of marine submersion.[103]
The Agglomération is responsible for the maintenance and monitoring of several urban flood protection dykes in Agde territory.[103]
Green spaces department
Developing dry gardens, encouraging the planting of perennials, pruning trees and mowing stadium lawns with the pooling of equipment and machinery: the Agglomération's 100 employees keep public spaces clean. Their job is to clean streets and sidewalks, parking lots, squares and public gardens. I.e, there are 70 km of hedges in Cap d'Agde.[103]
Waste water reused
The first project of its kind in France is to irrigate the golf course (a private area). It is materialized with the construction by the Agglomeration of the storage reservoir and a first launch in 2018, avoiding the use of 200,000 m3 drinking water. "Eventually, part of Agde's green spaces will be able to be irrigated by treated water from the "POSIDONIA" wastewater treatment plant".[103]
Camps, Christian (1999). Agde d'hier à aujourd'hui (in French). les Éd. de la Tour Gile. p. 296. ISBN978-2-87802-357-2.
Monfort, Hervé (1999). Agde, un autre regard sur la ville (in French). Ed DU LYS. p. 95. ISBN978-2-951-47320-1.
Félix, Laurent; Palouzié, Hélène; et al. (15 June 2023). LE CHÂTEAU LAURENS. Le Cherche midi [fr]. p. 200. Laurent Félix, head of the heritage department of the Hérault Méditerranée urban community. Hélène Palouzié, Regional Curator of Historic Monuments.
^The sculpture rebaptised Amphitrite formerly stood on the façade of the Palais du Trocadéro, built for the Exposition Universelle (1878) and demolished to make way for the Exposition of 1937. She was preserved and offered to the city, where she now symbolizes Agde's maritime vocation. Base Palissy: Statue: Amphitrite, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
^Vias, which includes a large part of protected natural spaces, was not included in the Racine Mission (the development of new housing estates is due to Mayor Richard Monedero 2022 Falkirk Council election
)
^ ab"Mayor Pierrick Lapeyre 1965-1971". ville d'Agde(official) (in French). After the war, the Municipality realigned streets and authorized the demolition of ruined buildings, giving rise to today's Place Gambetta. This was used by the Halles fairground, which was rebuilt in 1970. In 1969, the municipal abattoirs were closed by prefectural decree "on the opening date of those in Béziers", forcing butchers in Agatha to buy supplies 25 km away. Lapeyre put in place the elements essential to the hygiene of the town, some districts of which still see sewage running into the street, and where the water is not drinkable with the sewers rapidly extended, as the town is growing very fast. In January 1967, a municipal sewerage plan was drawn up to plan all the work in stages, with particular urgency for Le Grau and La Tamarissière, which continued to discharge their wastewater directly into the Hérault. To reduce costs, a tax was introduced on subdivisions, and in October 1967, the wastewater treatment plant (in the Prunette sector) was built. Financed by SEBLI. A new artesian well was dug at Grau d'Agde in 1965 (siphons passing under the Canal du Midi and the Hérault).
^This introduced the pleasure of motoring with car races.
^The family of Emmanuel Laurens is composed of "Maîtres maçons" (architects) in Agde since the 18th century. His father is an engineer, his uncle the Agde town-architect, in Félix & Palouzié 2023, p. 35.
^Berthet, Fabienne; Bartoli, Pascale (2020). "Seaside architecture" (in French). A societal context: The 1950s saw the emergence of new lifestyles. Post-war social advances, and in particular paid vacations, meant that tourism was now accessible to all. Both a result of and a catalyst for the social upheavals of the "Trente Glorieuses", tourism promoted social progress and a desire for individual freedom outside working hours. In practice, rising incomes generated a new attraction for vacations, which naturally focused on seaside and coastal resorts. Under the gentle name of heliotropism, encouraged by a culture that values shellfish, whole crowds flock to the coast, eager to sample the pleasures of the beach. Aware of the economic stakes involved in tourism, the public authorities introduced a policy to encourage this major expansion, which was mainly focused on 3 regions: Languedoc-Roussillon, Alpes Maritimes and Var, each of which developed its own model based on its history, appeal and assets. Three models: On the Languedoc coast, the changes accompanied in 1963 by the interministerial Racine mission recognized the principle of six tourist units along 180 km of coastline. Saint-Cyprien, Leucate - Le Barcarès, Gruissan, Cap d'Agde, La Grande Motte and Port Camargue, separated by vast natural areas, were created. The aim is to build, over 20 years, the infrastructure and 500 tourist beds needed to develop an economy that is lacking in this part of the country. Nearly a million holidaymakers are expected in what will be nicknamed the Florida or French California, and is now the emblem of popular tourism sites.
^"Agde coup dur pour les plaisanciers" (in French). 17 January 2023. Delegate of the management of the marinas of Cap d'Agde and the sites on the Hérault river for a period of 20 years, Sodéal will discuss this Wednesday morning, during the first meeting since 2017 of the Local Committee of Permanent Users of the Ports of Cap d'Agde (Clupp), an increase in its tariffs of around 12%.
^"Major projects: developing Agde's inland port". Official Agglo-Hérault-Méditerranée (in French). 12 May 2024. Scheduled to open in 2026, this landscape harbor is part of a program to rehabilitate the old town center, with a dock and berths for 150 houseboats and transit boats.
^ ab"L'AGGLO Hérault Méditerranée : aménagement du quartier de la méditerranéenne" (in French). 2 April 2021. ECONOMICS The demolition of the buildings located on the 8.5 hectares industrial wasteland in the Mediterranean [is done in 2023]. The GGL-Proméo consortium will be responsible for the development of this space. The creation of this new centre of attractiveness will be a major challenge in the context of the urban project to enhance the heart of the city of Agde and accompanies the other operations carried out in parallel, namely the creation of the river port on the Canal du Midi, the restoration of Château Laurens and the creation of a multimodal interchange hub at the railway station [...] A functional mix of permanent housing, tourist accommodation and a programme of offices, shops and services on 35,000 m2 [...] A training centre, the future headquarters of the agglomeration and the centre for conservation and studies in archaeology [...] Requalification of the Hôtel Riquet along the Canal du Midi and the hangar located to the south along the railway tracks, into a vast, multi-functional hall, at the centre of the flows of the district and the train station [...] Flood risk particularly impacting the site: the floating habitat and the suspended city. Floating habitat: the creation of a body of water is planned. The city suspended: all new constructions, excluding the rehabilitation of buildings deemed heritage and preserved, are planned on stilts with the first surfaces developed from the 1st floor [...] A development planned by 2024 [...] The balance sheet of the transaction is balanced at approximately €11.5 million excluding VAT. The selected consortium also undertakes to pay a contribution of €1 million to the local authority for the financing of the railway footbridge that the agglomeration community must build to link the Agde station, the future Multimodal Interchange Hub, to the Mediterranean quarter, so that the district is a real gateway to the territory from the regional and national rail network.
^D'Ettore, Gilles (February 2024). "Agde le MAG". Official municipal news magazine (in French). No. 122. p. 5.
^Meaning 1 /10 tax-payer may vote in mayor election, deciding the communal budget and urban projects.
^"pump and silo for grapes" (in French). The engineer-architect Paul Brès patented this system for his reinforced concrete silo tank, he would have considered this silo to be a kind of "cathedral" because it was visible from afar. Excerpts from the label of the exhibition LA CAVE COOPÉRATIVE D'AGDE, DE SA CRÉATION À NOS JOURS", Office du Tourisme, Agde, 09/2020.
^Ville d'Agde (2024). "Jean Félix Mayor of Agde from 1919 to 1944". Official (document) (in French). Jean Félix in 1926 founded the cooperative distillery "L'Agathoise". He was also Vice-President of the Professional Union of Winegrowers of Hérault and administrator of the Confederation of Winegrowers of the South. He "denounces all injustices, takes charge of the defense of the most humble and of wine interests". Félix was, with Edouard Barthe, an "enlightened and effective" defender of southern viticulture: Winemaker, having all the necessary equipment (tunners, presses, etc.) he thought of those who did not have any, he decided to create in 1937 the Agde wine cooperative of which he will be president. The building, built by the Caruso company, had a capacity of 23,000 hectoliters when it was created.
^"LES CAVES RICHEMER – CAVEAU D'AGDE" (in French). The Richemer Cellars were born from the merger of the cooperative cellars of Agde and Marseillan. They bring together 350 winegrowers on a vineyard of 1500ha and an annual production of 100,000hl with 65% white wines, 25% rosés and 10% red wines. They owe their name to a legend: Henri de Richet, a winegrower from Marseillan who is said to have made his fortune in the wine trade, thanks to maritime trade. He was soon nicknamed "Henri de Richemer". They bring together 350 winegrowers on a vineyard of 1500ha and an annual production of 100,000hl with 65% white wines, 25% rosés and 10% red wines. They owe their name to a legend: Henri de Richet, a winegrower from Marseillan who is said to have made his fortune in the wine trade, thanks to maritime trade. He was soon nicknamed "Henri de Richemer.
^"Hérault : Quels sont les 8 vins du département médaillés au Mondial des Vins Blancs de Strasbourg ?". herault-tribune.com (in French). 10 April 2024. Hérault dept.: What are the 8 wines from the department that have won medals at the Mondial des Vins Blancs in Strasbourg? The Richemer cellars, located in Marseillan in the Hérault, were particularly rewarded, with two gold medals for their IGP Pays d'Oc Richemer Viognier 2023 and the Souvenir Cap d'Agde IGP Côte de Thau 2023.
^This spirit of development stems from Government's Plan, with "Neighbouring urban complexes and sub-urban units", the urban theory of the leading corbusean architect André Wogenscky. Jean Balladur [fr] acted this plan in La Grande-Motte.
^"CAP D'AGDE MAIN PORT PRESENTATION". port-capdagde.com (in French). Ideal base for Mediterranean cruises to Spain (50 miles), the Balearics (200 miles) or Corsica (230 miles). 3100 moorings: * 10 sheltered basins around a 35 hectares body of water. * 6 sanitary blocks (toilets, showers, washbasins) with reserved access (electronic key). * Reserved parking for yachtsmen. * Fresh water and electricity (220 V mono and 380 V tri) at quayside. * Secure pontoons (electronic key access): berths are equipped with catways and, for larger units, with piles or deadbeds. * Special berths for multihulls. * 2 slipways (Avant Port). * European-standard waste disposal center. * Harbour dredged to 3 m.
^"Seaside style: a breath of escape". rhinov.fr (in French). Introduced in the 1920s this Mediterranean look [...] creates the atmosphere of a vacation home where life is good. The seaside style first appeared in the United States between 1920 and 1930. The wealth and leisure obsession of the Roaring Twenties led to a boom in seaside resorts. The unique aestheticism, exoticism and relaxing aspect of the seaside style seduced Americans, leading it to become the style used for the development of these resorts and the dominant style of Californian and Floridian homes.
^"Sète history". thau-infos.fr (in French). Some long-term forecasts that seemed favorable to the port never came true. Some, like Professor Galtier, defined Sète as a "medium-sized" port, in continuous expansion from 1938 to 1954. While Gilles Salvat, a cultural attaché at the town hall, speaks of a structural crisis that began in the late 1930s, linked to the "poor development" of the Languedoc region. Like all French ports," points out G. Galtier, "Sète is an importing port: in 1964, incoming goods accounted for 78% of traffic. This is the same order of magnitude as Marseille and Le Havre.
^(some building dates and architects)"Archiguide AGDE". site officiel de la ville d'Agde.
^D'Ettore, Gilles (February 2024). "Agde le MAG". Official municipal news magazine (in French). No. 122. p. 41. Pop culture and italian based design with plastic and metal.
^Sartre, Patrice. "La piraterie en mer" (in French). Études 2009/3 (Tome 410). pp. 295-304. "The fledgling United States fought its first war, from 1798 to 1801 in the West Indies, against the privateers of the young French Republic plundering American merchant ships. Building on the successes of this French Naval War (Engraved on the monument to the Marines in Arlington), the United States will pursue in the Mediterranean the Muslim "barbarians" who negotiated for ransom the merchant ships they had captured and their crews, one of the motivations for the capture of Algiers by France a few years later."
^"Agde camp". archives municipales Agde (in French). 28 September 2021. After the Battle of France, the town mourned its soldiers who had died at the front, while concern grew for those who were now prisoners in Germany. At the town hall, Marshal Pétain's regime made its mark, the mayor was maintained and the town council was modified, while living conditions for the people of Agatha became tougher. At the time of the roundup in August 1942, the Agde camp was the assembly point for Israelites from the Hérault region. During these painful days, Sabine Zlatin was present, and obtained the release of around a hundred Jewish children. When the German occupying forces left, all that remained on the site were the pozzolan paths, which were soon covered by housing developments, but the memory of the people who lived there would live on. An essential memorial to the town's 20th-century history, the Agde camp monument stands today at the intersection of route des 7 Fonts and rue Jean Moulin, near the René Cassin secondary school. Inaugurated in 1989, it symbolically marks the entrance to the camp and pays tribute to all the nationalities who lived there.
^"Les joutes, une tradition sur Agde depuis 1601 !". ville-agde.fr (in French). On the occasion of the arrival of the Duke of Montmorency, Henri I, Constable of France, a sumptuous tournament of jousts was organized in Agde. At that time, the jousts traditionally took place on the feast of Pentecost.