Saint-Girons, Ariège

Saint-Girons

General view of the town

Coat of arms

Saint-Girons

Location within Occitanie region

Saint-Girons

Coordinates: 42°59′09″N 1°08′48″E / 42.9858°N 1.1467°ECoordinates: 42°59′09″N 1°08′48″E / 42.9858°N 1.1467°E

Country

Saint-Girons

Saint-Girons

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

François Murillo

Area¹

19.13 km² (7.39 sq mi)

Population (2008)²

6,579

• Density

340/km² (890/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

09261 /09200

Elevation

387–1,200 m (1,270–3,937 ft)
(avg. 391 m or 1,283 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Saint-Girons (French: [sɛ̃.ʒi.ʁɔ̃]; Occitan: Sent Gironç) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France.

Unlike its close neighbour Saint-Lizier, Saint-Girons isn't an ancient city; there was however a lucus on its present territory where some Roman finds were made during the construction of the train station in the beginning of the twentieth century. Modern-days district Le Luc is considered to owe its name to this ancient lucus.

The city is named after Saint Girons, a saint from fifth-century Landes who evangelized Novempopulania. In the ninth century some of his relics were supposedly buried in Saint Girons' Church, around which the city later developed.

Saint-Girons has a moderate but warm oceanic climate, that is quite prone to temporary vast extremes in temperature as a result of its inland position.

Inhabitants of Saint-Girons are called Saint-Gironnais.

Stage 8 of the 2009 Tour de France finished in Saint-Girons, after travelling 176 km from Andorra la Vella.

State 9 of the 2013 Tour de France started here.

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Wikipedia