Mazamet

Mazamet
Mazamet
	Commune
	Panorama of Mazamet
	Coat of arms
	Location of Mazamet
	Mazamet Mazamet
	Coordinates: 43°29′34″N 2°22′27″E
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Department	Tarn
Arrondissement	Castres
Canton	Mazamet-1 and Mazamet-2 Vallée du Thoré
Intercommunality	Castres–Mazamet
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Olivier Fabre
Area 1	72.08 km2 (27.83 sq mi)
Population (2017-01-01)[1]	10,013
• Density	140/km2 (360/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	81163 /81200
Elevation	213–1,176 m (699–3,858 ft) ; (avg. 241 m or 791 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Mazamet (Languedocien: Masamet) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.

It is the second-largest component of the Castres-Mazamet metropolitan area.

Location

Mazamet is situated on the northern slope of the Montagne Noire and on the Arnette, a small tributary of the Thoré, which forms the commune's northern border.

Economy

The town made its wealth during the 18th & 19th century when it was the world centre of the wool industry. At its height, the town imported more than 100,000 tonnes of wool annual from the Southern Hemisphere. After processing, numerous establishments were involved in wool-spinning and in the manufacture of leather goods, gloves, blankets, hosiery and clothing for troops. While the vast majority of Mazamet's wool industry ended in the early 1990s, the town still has a residual high-end leather industry with leather being purchased by a number of Paris & London fashion houses.

Today, Mazamet is known for tourism, thanks to its natural setting at the foothills of the Montagne Noire mountain range and being close to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Albi, Carcassonne and the Canal du Midi.

The town has a 65 km (40 mi) cycle path, plus numerous other cycling + walking routes.

Notable people

Pierre Capretz, developer of the French in Action series for teaching French, was born in Mazamet in 1925.
Maurice Euzennat (1926–2004), historian and archaeologist, died in Mazamet
Laurent Jalabert, Road bicycle racing professional was born here.
Nicolas Jalabert, Road bicycle racing professional was born here.
Pierre Sancan, pianist and composer, was born in Mazamet in 1916.
Jean-Michel Vernhes, public servant, was born in Mazamet in 1950.

Tour de France

Mazamet was the start for Stage 14 in the 2007 Tour de France, finishing on the top of Plateau de Beille. The stage was won by Alberto Contador, who later went on to win the Tour. In 2018, Mazamet welcomed the race once again as it passed through on route to Carcassonne.

Twin towns

Mazamet is twinned with:

Rybnik, Poland[2]

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mazamet". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 939.

Notes

"Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
"Rybnik Official Website - Twin Towns". Urząd Miasta Rybnika. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

External links

Official website (in French)
Espace Apollo website of Mazamet Cultural centre
official website of the Greater Castres-Mazamet Council (in French)
personal site (in English and French)

Gallery

Map of Mazamet and its surrounding communes

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[1] "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.

[Twin-2] "Rybnik Official Website - Twin Towns". Urząd Miasta Rybnika. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2008-11-01.