We all live there, we live there, we breathe there, we have our sorrows, our joys, our children. Thanks to Jacques Lajoux, and his unconditional love for his city and its history, a little reminder. Gimont, a country house: in the 13th century, the sad episode of the fight against the Cathars saw the triumph of the royal troops and the defeat of the Count of Toulouse and the “langue d’Oc”. He wants to raise an economy damaged by this conflict. The King agrees to create new towns, on condition that they are not surrounded by walls, conducive to encouraging rebellion.
The place : in the center of the Bastide, an area is left free. It is everywhere the place of exchanges par excellence, where markets and fairs are held. The Gimontois could trade from their roofs, while non-sedentary merchants had to endure the cold and the elements. 75 years later, to protect them and encourage them to come, a hall was built. Originally low and with wooden pillars, it shaped its present face in the following centuries. As Gimont is built on a ridge, where only the main street is flat, it had to be placed “on horseback”, hence its specificity.
The “spoken” Gimontois: the corners of the city often took the name of the owners whose houses were on an angle, and it was not uncommon to hear people talk about “under the square”, or even going to “play in the corner”.
A story : this phrasing does not date from yesterday, because there is a writing, of the 1st day of December of 1754, where the public was assembled “under” the public square, and it was shouted out loud and intelligible, the first proclamation that would like raise the royal funds “.
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