Villefranche-de-Rouergue

Villefranche-de-Rouergue
An aerial view of Villefranche-de-Rouergue An aerial view of Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Coat of arms of Villefranche-de-Rouergue Coat of arms
Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Location within Midi-Pyrénées region Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Aveyron
Arrondissement	Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Canton	Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Intercommunality	Villefranchois
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Serge Roques
Area1	45.85 km2 (17.70 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	11,926
• Density	260/km2 (670/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	12300 / 12200
Elevation	237–544 m (778–1,785 ft) (avg. 290 m or 950 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.

Villefranche-de-Rouergue (French: [vil.fʁɑ̃ʃ də ʁwɛʁɡ] ; Vilafranca in Occitan) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France.

History

At the end of the Albigensian Crusade from the northern "barons" against the southern Occitania on a religious pretext (fighting the Cathar heresy), the Count of Toulouse was defeated and concluded the treaty of Paris in 1229. By this treaty he gave the Rouergue county to his daughter who became the wife of Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Saint Louis, king of France. Alphonse founded Villefranche on the place of an old village called La Peyrade in 1252.

During World War II, while occupied by Nazi Germany, Villefranche received a large 13th Waffen SS Handschar (1st Croatian) division.Led by Ferid Džanić, Eduard Matutinović, Božo Jelinek and Nikola Vukelić, one battalion staged a rebellion against the Nazis on 17 September 1943, (Villefranche-de-Rouergue uprising) but were soon suppressed and mostly executed on site. The few that escaped inspired the French resistance in Aveyron that had not been formed until then. After the war, an avenue in Villefranche was named Avenue des Croates (Avenue of the Croats) in honor of the uprising.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Twin towns — Sister cities

Villefranche-de-Rouergue is twinned with:

• Pula, Croatia

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	8,497	—
1800	9,331	+9.8%
1806	9,283	−0.5%
1821	8,803	−5.2%
1831	9,540	+8.4%
1836	8,736	−8.4%
1841	9,088	+4.0%
1846	9,705	+6.8%
1851	9,613	−0.9%
1856	10,826	+12.6%
1861	10,172	−6.0%
1866	9,719	−4.5%
1872	9,312	−4.2%
1876	10,124	+8.7%
1881	10,366	+2.4%
1886	9,836	−5.1%
1891	9,734	−1.0%
1896	8,426	−13.4%
1901	9,730	+15.5%
1906	8,352	−14.2%
1911	8,439	+1.0%
1921	7,423	−12.0%
1926	7,825	+5.4%
1931	7,908	+1.1%
1936	8,479	+7.2%
1946	9,257	+9.2%
1954	8,676	−6.3%
1962	9,540	+10.0%
1968	10,709	+12.3%
1975	12,284	+14.7%
1982	12,693	+3.3%
1990	12,291	−3.2%
1999	11,919	−3.0%
2008	11,926	+0.1%

See also

• Villefranche XIII Aveyron
• Emilie de Rodat
• Communes of the Aveyron department

References

• INSEE

External links

• Tourist office website (in French)
• Pictures of Villefranche-de-Rouergue in "Paysages d'Aveyron"
• Walking in the streets of Villefranche Part I/Part II/Part III