Ayguatébia-Talau

Ayguatébia-Talau
A general view of Ayguatébia-Talau
Coat of arms
Ayguatébia-Talau
Location within Languedoc-Roussillon region Ayguatébia-Talau
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Pyrénées-Orientales
Arrondissement	Prades
Canton	Olette
Intercommunality	Capcir Haut-Conflent
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Georges Vicens
Area1	29.68 km2 (11.46 sq mi)
Population (2012)2	44
• Density	1.5/km2 (3.8/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	66010 / 66360
Elevation	720–2,030 m (2,360–6,660 ft) (avg. 1,365 m or 4,478 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ayguatébia-Talau (Catalan: Aiguatèbia i Talau) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

Geography

Ayguatébia-Talau is located in the canton of Olette and in the arrondissement of Prades.

Map of Ayguatébia-Talau and its surrounding communes

Toponymy

Attested forms

The name of Ayguatébia appears in 958 as Aqua tebeda, immediately followed in 959 by Aquatepida. Villa Aque tepida is used during the 11th century and Aiguetevia is found in 1392. From the 17th century and on, the common forms are Aiguetebia and Ayguatebia. The modern spelling in Catalan is Aiguatèbia, but the traditional spelling, Ayguatèbia, should be preferred.

The name of Talau appears in 874 as Villa Talatio and in 876 as Talacho. Talazo, Talaz and Talaxo are used during the 10th century. Talau appears in the 13th century and is used since.

Etymology

The name of Ayguatébia comes from the latin aqua tebeda, meaning lukewarm water, in relation with warm springs found in Ayguatébia.

The name of Talau comes from a pre-latin radical, Tal or Tala, meaning a small plateau found above a cliff or a hill, which corresponds to the situation of the village of Talau, located above the valley of the Cabrils river.

History

Ayguatébia-Talau is a town created on January 1, 1983 by uniting the towns of Ayguatébia and Talau.

Government and politics

The town hall in Ayguatebia

Mayors

Mayor	Term start	Term end
Lucien Mitjaville	1983	2011
Marc Rousset	2011	2012
Lucien Mitjaville	2012	2014
Georges Vicens	2014

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	490	—
1800	500	+2.0%
1806	511	+2.2%
1821	550	+7.6%
1831	516	−6.2%
1836	556	+7.8%
1841	527	−5.2%
1846	526	−0.2%
1851	551	+4.8%
1856	537	−2.5%
1861	554	+3.2%
1866	547	−1.3%
1872	519	−5.1%
1876	525	+1.2%
1881	509	−3.0%
1886	506	−0.6%
1891	454	−10.3%
1896	448	−1.3%
1901	441	−1.6%
1906	431	−2.3%
1911	391	−9.3%
1921	305	−22.0%
1926	244	−20.0%
1931	208	−14.8%
1936	181	−13.0%
1946	123	−32.0%
1954	95	−22.8%
1962	84	−11.6%
1968	32	−61.9%
1975	23	−28.1%
1982	21	−8.7%
1990	45	+114.3%
1999	46	+2.2%
2007	45	−2.2%
2009	45	+0.0%

Architecture

• Saint-Felix and Saint-Armengol church in Ayguatébia
• Saint-Stephen church in Talau
• Saint-Michael of the Plans church

Notable people

• Saint Ermengol (?–1035) was possibly born in Ayguatébia.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

External links

• IGN