Castelsarrasin
Castelsarrasin is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in Occitanie region of France. The inhabitants are called Castelsarrasinois. It is the second most populous commune in Tarn-et-Garonne after Montauban. It is served by Castelsarrasin station on the Bordeaux-Toulouse line.
The town is also the seat of the Communauté de communes Terres des Confluences.
The Castelsarrasin urban area had 27,861 inhabitants in 2017, making it the 23rd largest urban area in the new Occitanie region. It is, respectively, the central city and the central commune of an urban unit and an area of influence. With a municipal population of 14,343, Castelsarrasin is the second largest town in the department by population, after Montauban and ahead of Moissac.
Castelsarrasin is located on a major transport route linking Bordeaux and the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest, and Narbonne and the Mediterranean Sea to the southeast, all via Toulouse. This important axis is notably marked by the A62 autoroute, which bypasses the city center to the northeast before reaching Castelsarrasin via an exit near the Artel industrial park. Like Agen's, Castelsarrasin's city center is unique in that it is bordered on both sides by the Garonne River and the Garonne Lateral Canal, which is part of the Canal des Deux Mers.
Although Castelsarrasin is not part of Toulouse's metropolitan area, it appears to be strongly influenced by this nearby conurbation of approximately 1.4 million inhabitants, as is the Tarn-et-Garonne department in general.
Most residents of the city and much of its surrounding area refer to it by the diminutive "Castel." Its inhabitants are called Castelsarrasinois.
Geography
Location
The western part of the commune lies in the Garonne Valley, which is an alluvial plain. The unbuildable nature of the land in this area is the reason why this part of the commune is not very urbanized. The town center and other, much more urbanized areas are located at a slightly higher altitude on the eastern slope of the valley, which allows them to be sheltered from the river's floods.Neighboring communes
Castelsarrasin borders eleven other communes.The neighboring communes are Les Barthes, Castelferrus, Castelmayran, Cordes-Tolosannes, Labastide-du-Temple, Moissac, Saint-Aignan, Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, Saint-Porquier, and La Ville-Dieu-du-Temple.
Relief and geology
The area of the municipality is 7,677 hectares. Its altitude varies from 61 to 97 meters.Hydrology
The commune is located in the Garonne watershed, within the Adour-Garonne hydrographic basin.It is drained by the Garonne, Gimone, Tarn, Lemboulas, Sère, Larone stream, Rafié stream, Bartac stream, Ravajole stream, Azin stream, Millole stream, Montagné stream, Saint-Michel stream, and a small stream, forming a hydrographic network with a total length of 147 km.
The Garonne is a mainly French river, originating in Spain, and flowing for 529 km before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. It runs along the western flank of the commune.
The Gimone, with a total length of 136 km, rises in the commune of Saint-Loup-en-Comminges and flows from south to north. It crosses the commune and empties into the Garonne at Castelferrus, after passing through 54 communes.
The Tarn, with a total length of 380 km, rises in the commune of Pont-de-Montvert-Sud-Mont-Lozère and flows from east to west. It runs along the northern part of the commune and empties into the Garonne at Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, after passing through 98 communes.
The Lemboulas, with a total length of 56.7 km, rises in the commune of Lalbenque and flows from northeast to southwest. It flows into the Tarn River, within the municipal boundaries, after crossing 15 municipalities.
The Sère River, with a total length of 31.8 km, rises in the municipality of Castéron and flows from southwest to northwest. It flows into the Garonne River, within the municipal boundaries, after crossing 15 municipalities.
The Larone Stream, with a total length of 23.6 km, rises in the municipality of Montech and flows from southeast to northwest. It flows into the Tarn River, within the municipal boundaries, after crossing 8 municipalities.
Finally, the Rafié Stream, with a total length of 15.5 km, rises in the municipality of Montech and flows from east to west. It flows into the Garonne in the municipal territory, after crossing 5 municipalities.
Climate
In 2010, the climate of the commune was of the Southwest Basin climate type, according to a study by the National Center for Scientific Research based on a series of data covering the period 1971–2000. In 2020, Météo-France published a typology of the climates of metropolitan France in which the commune is exposed to an altered oceanic climate and is in the Aquitaine, Gascony climatic region, characterized by abundant rainfall in spring, moderate in autumn, low sunshine in spring, a hot summer, weak winds, frequent fog in autumn and winter and frequent thunderstorms in summer. For the period 1971–2000, the average annual temperature was 13.5 °C, with an annual thermal amplitude of 15.6 °C. The average annual cumulative precipitation is 747 mm, with 9.1 days of precipitation in January and 6 days in July. For the period 1991–2020, the average annual temperature observed at the meteorological station installed in the commune is 13.6 °C and the average annual cumulative precipitation is 698.6 mm. The maximum temperature recorded at this station is 43.1 °C, reached on August 24, 2023; the minimum temperature is −13.8 °C, reached on February 9, 2012.The climate parameters of the commune have been estimated for the middle of the century according to different greenhouse gas emission scenarios based on the new DRIAS-2020 reference climate projections. They can be viewed on a dedicated website published by Météo-France in November 2022.
Urban planning
Typology
As of January 1, 2024, Castelsarrasin is categorized as a small town, according to the new seven-level communal density grid defined by INSEE in 2022. It belongs to the urban unit of Castelsarrasin, an intra-departmental agglomeration grouping together two communes, of which it is the city center. Furthermore, the commune is part of the Castelsarrasin attraction area, of which it is the central commune. This area, which includes communes, is categorized in areas with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants.Land use
The land use of the commune, as shown in the European biophysical land use database Corine Land Cover, is marked by the importance of agricultural territories, a decrease compared to 1990. The detailed breakdown in 2018 is as follows: arable land, heterogeneous agricultural areas, urbanized areas, permanent crops, industrial or commercial areas and communication networks, inland waters, forests, meadows, environments with shrub and/or herbaceous vegetation. The evolution of the land use of the commune and its infrastructures can be observed on the different cartographic representations of the territory: the Cassini map, the general staff map and the IGN maps or aerial photos for the current period.Roads
The main roads serving the city are the A62 motorway via exit 9 "Castelsarrasin", and the former national road 113, which became departmental road 813 following the downgrading of national roads in 2005. Most existing secondary roads converge on the city center.A circular boulevard runs around the city center. The unique feature of this boulevard is that it is almost entirely one-way. This can sometimes complicate travel between certain areas of the city.
Public transport
The city is crossed by the Bordeaux–Sète railway. Trains use it and serve Castelsarrasin station. The Bordeaux-Toulouse high-speed line will cross the southern end of Castelsarrasin, through the residential neighborhoods of Bénis and Saint Martin Belcassé.A regional bus network line connects Montauban to Castelsarrasin with 37 daily round trips.
The town is served by the Castelsarrasin public transport network, La Tulipe, which has two lines, including a circular line divided into two.
Canal of Garonne
The Canal de Garonne, which is part of the Canal latéral à la Garonne, crosses the city from north to south. It is an essential element of tourism, due to the large number of boaters who use it, the greenway used by walkers of all kinds, and the attraction of the Port Jacques-Yves-Cousteau.Air transport
Castelsarrasin airport is located in the northeastern part of the city, in the Gandalou district. Its primary purpose is aerial leisure.Major risks
The territory of the commune of Castelsarrasin is vulnerable to various natural hazards: meteorological, floods, ground movements and earthquakes. It is also exposed to three technological risks, the transport of dangerous materials and industrial risk and nuclear risk. A site published by the BRGM allows you to simply and quickly assess the risks of a property located either by its address or by the number of its plot.Natural risks
The commune is part of the Montauban-Moissac high flood risk area, which includes 15 communes at risk of the Tarn overflowing, one of the 18 TRIs that were closed at the end of 2012 in the Adour-Garonne basin. The historic flood of March 1930 caused considerable damage. The disaster left 210 dead and nearly 10,000 homeless. 120 deaths were recorded in the town of Moissac alone after the dikes broke and 2,769 houses were destroyed in Tarn-et-Garonne. Floodplain maps have been established for three scenarios: frequent, medium, and extreme. The commune has been declared a natural disaster site due to damage caused by floods and mudslides in 1988, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2018, and 2022.Castelsarrasin is exposed to the risk of forest fires. However, as the Tarn-et-Garonne department generally presents a very localized medium to low hazard level, no Departmental Plan for the Protection of Forests Against Forest Fire Risk has been developed. Clearing brush around houses is one of the best protections for individuals against fire.
The ground movements likely to occur in the commune are differential settlements.
The shrinkage-swelling of clay soils is likely to cause significant damage to buildings in the event of alternating periods of drought and rain. The entire commune is at medium or high risk. Of the 4,723 buildings counted in the commune in 2019, 4,723 are at medium or high risk, i.e. 100%, compared to 96% at the departmental level and 54% at the national level. A map of the exposure of the national territory to the shrinkage-swelling of clay soils is available on the BRGM website.
Furthermore, in order to better understand the risk of land subsidence, the national inventory of underground cavities makes it possible to locate those located in the commune.