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Sisteron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Commune of Sisteron |
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| Location | |
| Longitude | 05° 56' 50" E |
| Latitude | 44° 11' 28" N |
| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
| Department | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence |
| Arrondissement | Forcalquier |
| Canton | Sisteron (chief town) |
| Mayor | Daniel Spagnou (2001-2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Altitude | 448 m–1145 m (avg. 485 m) |
| Land area¹ | 50.25 km² |
| Population² (1999) |
6,964 |
| - Density (1999) | 139/km² |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 04209/ 04200 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Sisteron (Occitan: Sisteron in classical norm or Sisteroun in Mistralian norm) a town and commune in southeastern France, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence département, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région. The inhabitants are called the 'Sisteronnais'.
Contents |
Sisteron is situated on the banks of the River Durance just after the confluences of the rivers Buëch and Sasse. It is sometimes called the 'Porte de la Provence' (The Gateway to Provence) because it is in a narrow gap between two long mountain ridges (Baume/Gache and Montagnes de Lure/Moulard).
It is 135 km from Marseille, also 135 km from Grenoble and 180 km from Nice.
Sisteron has been inhabited for 4000 years. The Romans used the route through Sisteron as can be shown by a Latin inscription in the rocks near the road to Authon. It escaped the barbarian invasions after the fall of Rome, but was ravaged by the Saracens. It was first fortified by the Counts of Forcalquier in the 11th century and later was the northern boundary of the domain of the Counts of Provence. In 1483 during the reign of Louis XI, Sisteron re-joined the kingdom of France. Around this time there were seven plagues that killed two thirds of the population. Between 1562 and 1594 the town and its citadelle was fought over by Protestants and Catholics including two sieges. During this time the walls of the town were built. The plague returned in 1630, and typhus in 1744, killing many of the town's population.
During the French Revolution the town remained Royalist. Consequently when Napoleon arrived on his march north after his escape from Elba in 1815, the town ignored him and let him through.
On 15 August 1944 French B-26 Marauder bombers and American B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 42nd Bomber Wing tried to destroy the railway bridge and the road bridge which span the Durance. The weather was unfavorable and the bridges were not destroyed. A bomber during a manouevre to avoid a collision accidentally dropped several bombs on the city, causing 100 fatalities and seriously damaged the citadel. On August 17, the French aircraft returned and destroyed the bridges.
Johannes, the first known Bishop of Sisteron, appears early in the sixth century. Owing to the ungracious reception accorded Bishop Gérard by the Chapter of Sisteron, the bishops of that see remained at Forcalquier from 1061 to 1169 and, until the time of the Revolution, the church at Forcalquier bore the title of cathedral.
Laffittau, the Jesuit who was agent of Cardinal Dubois, and also an historian, occupied the see of Sisteron from 1719 to 1764.
By the Concordat of 1801, the diocese of Digne was made to include the two departments of the Hautes - and Basses Alpes, in addition to the former diocese of Digne, the Archdiocese of Embrun, the dioceses of Gap, Sisteron and Senez, a very considerable part of the dioceses of Glandèves and Riez, and fourteen parishes in the Archdiocese of Aix and the diocese of Apt. In 1822 Gap was made an episcopal see and, thus divested of the department of the Hautes Alpes, the present Diocese of Digne covers the territory formerly included in the dioceses of Digne, Senez, Glandèves, Riez, and Sisteron.
The town has several important buildings including the citadelle and 12th century cathedral, Cathédrale Notre Dame et Saint Thyrse (Saint Thyrsus).
Many tourists also visit the town because of its climate (300 days of sunshine each year), quaint narrow streets, the beautiful surrounding countryside, its lido and the airfields at Vaumeilh, Motte du Caire and Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban which are dedicated to the sport of gliding. There is an annual festival with many events throughout the summer months. There is a market every Wednesday. A long distance walk, the GR 6 (Grande Randonnée) passes east-west through Sisteron.
Sisteron is served by the A51 autoroute, which now by-passes the town, eliminating it as a notorious 'bottle-neck' for traffic. There is also a railway station on the line from Marseille to Briançon and Grenoble.
- The poet Paul Arène (1843-1896) was born in the town.
- Louis Antoine Jullien (1812- 1860), popular music conductor and composer of light music, was born in Sisteron [1]
- ^ Faul, Michel (2006). Louis Jullien, musique,spectacle et folie au XIXe siècle. Atlantica. ISBN 2-35165-038-7.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.