This is Rodez !!!

Several years back while visiting my belle France, took a ride into this area. Not aware had some older paper picture in my vault and glad to found them! Not back since but left a nice impression ,and hope to be back, eventually. Not the best quality pictures but is all I have for the memories of always, I like to tell you a bit about this town taking advantage of these much older pictures. Therefore, here is my take on this is Rodez !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I. The city of Rodez is in the dept 12 of Aveyron in the Occitanie region, former capital of Rouergue, and in my belle France, The city and the agglomeration are located on the edge of the RN 88 road, in the Toulouse-Lyon axis,This road allows to reach Albi, Castres, Montpellier, Toulouse by the south and Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Orleans, Paris or Millau, Béziers, Sète, Narbonne, Perpignan from the north. Rodez is 50 km from the A75road The D840 allows to reach Rodez-Aveyron International Airport, Decazeville (then Aurillac by D 963 and N 122), Figeac, Brive, then A20 for Limoges, Tours, Orléans, Paris; The D 994 allows to reach Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Cahors, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, then Bordeaux. Rodez is 135km from Toulouse, 345 km from Bordeaux, 326 km from Lyon, 636 km from Versailles, and 694 km from my current house. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame cathedral,at place d’Armes, it constitutes a remarkable condensed architectural styles from the 13C to the 17C: Gothic, Renaissance and elements of baroque interior decoration. It has imposing dimensions; the central nave, quite narrow, is 102 meters long and has a particularly graceful elevation of 30 meters. The cathedral has a superb bell tower, a veritable pink stoneware lace, spotted from afar, dominating the summit of the city of its 87 meters, which makes it the highest flat bell tower in France. 400 steps are to be climbed to access the statue of the Virgin located at the top of the bell tower and the city’s panorama. The gigantic organ, its fully sculpted buffet seems to stretch to the vault! Installed above the northern portal, it occupies an unexpected location. Other singular details attract attention to this cathedral: two altars, a rudion that has been moved, a well, etc. Rodez Cathédrale Notre Dame front c2007 Rodez Cathédrale Notre Dame nave grandes arcades gothic c2007 The former Jesuit college,at Place Foch, is a set of historic buildings constituting the Foch high school. From this college remain a chapel, a building and a fountain, the Vors fountain, placed against the exterior wall of the chapel. Rodez chapelle des Jésuites from garden c2007 The Tour Corbiéres 15C by Boulevard d’Estourmel was part of old ramparts was used as a prison in the French revolution only seen from the outside today. It is just around the former Episcopal palace. Rodez tour Corbiéres cor palais episcopal c2007 Other things to see here with more time, me think are : the Saint-Amans Church, at rue de la Madeleine, was built in the 12C, it was entirely rebuilt from 1758 to 1761 with the recovered materials from the old church. The exterior is baroque style but the interior has retained the purity of the Romanesque. The Church of the Sacred Heart, at avenue Tarayre, whose construction was inspired by the Sainte-Foy Abbey of Conques with notable influences from the great Périgord churches. The national stud farm at rue Eugène-Loup, was installed from 1809 to 2017 in this old monastery built by the Chartreux in the 16C. The Maison d’Armagnac house. This 16C house is remarkable for many aspects. In particular, the facade that mixes several styles, which makes it unique. The former episcopal palace 15C was between the transept of the current cathedral and the city rampart.The construction of the current palace ended in 1694. The palace was built in the Louis XIII style with a staircase recalling that of the Château de Fontainebleau !  On December 3, 1836, at the invitation of Hippolyte de Barrau, was formed in Rodez, the Société des Lettres, Sciences et Arts de l’Aveyron at 2 Rue de Laumière ,object is the study of history and inventory of heritage, both natural and cultural, of the department of Aveyron, formerly Rouergue. It is open to researchers, teachers, students, and all those who are interested in the culture of Aveyron and Rouergue. It has a library of more than 50,000 books and several archive funds. The related musée Fenaille is at 14 Place Eugène-Raynaldy. A bit of history I like tell us ,Rodez was successively occupied by the Visigoths, the Franks, the armies of the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Toulouse, as well as by the Moors, who invaded in 725 and put the ancient church down. A few centuries later, it will be the English who will invade it during the Hundred Years War. The famous dynasty of Counts of Armagnac and Rodez, ends up acquiring sovereign privileges: mudging currency to the Martelenque tower, carry the county crown and persist in recognizing the antipape Benoît XIII and his heirs Bernard Garnier and Jean Carrier for a time. This inevitably brought the confrontation with the King of France in 1443. The Dauphin, future Louis XI, came to occupy Rodez and submit Count Jean IV. Later, his son will have a seditious idea trying to betray Louis XI. It will earn him to be massacred in Lectoure, with his family, during his escape, In 1589, Henri IV, count of Rodez, attached the destiny of the county of Rodez to the crown. Rodez’s story is then modeled on that of France, In June 1792, scientists of the time concerned to know the exact measure of the meter. Rodez will be a “central” element to accomplish this measure. Indeed, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre is responsible for measuring the distance between Dunkirk and Rodez while Pierre Méchain measures that between Barcelona and Rodez. They had to meet in Rodez to pool their measurements and determine the value of the meter. In 1793, in Montjuic and Barcelona, ​​Méchain detected an inconsistency between the lengths raised and the astronomical statement of the position of the stars. The Franco-Spanish war prevented him from repeating his measures. In 1799, he resigned himself to going to an international conference that salutes his scientific work. The City of Rodez on its heritage : https://www.ville-rodez.fr/ville/decouvrir/histoire-patrimoine/ The Rodez tourist office on its heritage (click be inspired) : https://en.rodez-tourisme.fr/ The Greater Rodez agglo site on things to do (see Rodez on left column) : https://www.rodezagglo.fr/agglo/territoire/richesse-du-patrimoine/ The Aveyron dept 12 tourist office on Rodez : https://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/en/discover/rodez/touristic-guide There you go folks, another spot in my world map or rather France’s map. Glad to have found the old pictures to give credit to Rodez in my blog; good for the memories of always. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Rodez as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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