Title: Castelsarrasin Content: Castelsarrasin  is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of France. It is the second city in Tarn-et-Garonne with more people living in it, after Montauban. It is a subprefecture in the department and the capital of the Castelsarrasin arrondissement. ==History== The oldest written example of Castelsarrasin, as Castel Sarracenum, is from the year 961. It was written in the will of Raymond II of Rouergue where he gave the Saint- Sauveur church to the monastery of Moissac. Castel Sarracenum ("Saracen Castle") was given that name because the castle was built in the SaracenMuslims were known, in Europe, as Saracens during the Middle Ages. era. There were many wars during the early history of the city: * against the English until the end of the 12th century; * the Albigensian Crusade during the first part of the 13th century; and * the Shepherd's Crusade of 1320 when many Jews that lived in the city were killed. Later, the Hundred Years' War affected the region. Most people that lived in the city were Catholics but many Protestants lived around the city. Fights were common here between those two groups during the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century. The region was more calm during the following centuries, up to the time of the French Revolution. From 1790 to 1795, Castelsarrasin was the capital of the District of Castelsarrasin in the Haute-Garonne department. In 1808, when the Tarn-et- Garonne department was created, the arrondissement of Castelsarrasin was made part of the new department. ==Geography== Castelsarrasin is near the Garonne river, which runs through the southwest of the commune. The city is at to the west of Montauban, préfecture of the department. It has an area of and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .  The communes that are around Castelsarrasin are Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, Moissac, Les Barthes, La Ville-Dieu-du-Temple, Saint-Porquier, Cordes- Tolosannes, Saint-Aignan, Castelferrus and Castelmayran. ===Climate=== The climate of Castelsarrasin, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers. ==Population== The inhabitants of Castelsarrasin are known, in French, as Castelsarrasinois (women: Castelsarrasinoises). With a population in 2014 of 13,765, Castelsarrasin has a population density of inhabitants/km2. Evolution of the population in Castelsarrasin Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:2500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1968 text:1968 bar:1975 text:1975 bar:1982 text:1982 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2014 text:2014 PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:1968 from:0 till: 11318 bar:1975 from:0 till: 10752 bar:1982 from:0 till: 10924 bar:1990 from:0 till: 11317 bar:1999 from:0 till: 11352 bar:2006 from:0 till: 12740 bar:2011 from:0 till: 13054 bar:2014 from:0 till: 13765 PlotData= bar:1968 at: 11318 fontsize:S text: 11,318 shift:(-12,5) bar:1975 at: 10752 fontsize:S text: 10,752 shift:(-18,5) bar:1982 at: 10924 fontsize:S text: 10,924 shift:(-18,5) bar:1990 at: 11317 fontsize:S text: 11,317 shift:(-18,5) bar:1999 at: 11352 fontsize:S text: 11,352 shift:(-18,5) bar:2006 at: 12740 fontsize:S text: 12,740 shift:(-18,5) bar:2011 at: 13054 fontsize:S text: 13,054 shift:(-18,5) bar:2014 at: 13765 fontsize:S text: 13,765 shift:(-18,5) ==Administration== Castelsarrasin is a subprefecture of the Tarn-et-Garonne department since 1809. It is also the capital of the arrondissement of Castelsarrasin and the administrative centre  of the canton Castelsarrasin with 6 communes and 20,937 inhabitants in 2014. It is part of the intercommunality Terres des confluences. === Twin cities === Castelsarrasin is a twin town of: * Fiume Veneto, Italy, since 2007 ==Places of interest== Some interesting places in Castelsarrasin are: * The Saint-Sauveur church, mentioned since 961; it was rebuilt in 1254. * The Saint-Jean church, mentioned since 1216; it was partially rebuilt in 1515. * The Notre-Dame d'Alem chapel. * The Jacques-Yves Cousteau port. ==Gallery== Castelsarrasin - Eglise Saint-Sauveur - Façade ouest.jpg|Saint-Sauveur church Castelsarrasin - Eglise Saint-Sauveur - Vue de la Place de la Raison.jpg|Saint-Sauveur church, north side File:Monumentscastel.jpg|Monuments aux Morts File:PortJYC.jpg|Port Jacques-Yves Cousteau ==People from Castelsarrasin== * Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658-1730), founder of Detroit and governor of Louisiana. ==Related pages== * Arrondissement of Castelsarrasin * Communes of the Tarn-et-Garonne department