Mazamet

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Mazamet
Mazamet
Location within Midi-Pyrénées region  Mazamet
Coordinates: 43°29′34″N 2°22′27″E / 43.4928°N 2.3742°E / 43.4928; 2.3742Coordinates: 43°29′34″N 2°22′27″E / 43.4928°N 2.3742°E / 43.4928; 2.3742
Country	France
Region	Midi-Pyrénées
Department	Tarn
Arrondissement	Castres
Canton	Mazamet
Intercommunality	Castres–Mazamet
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Laurent Bonneville
Area
• Land1	72.08 km2 (27.83 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Population2	12,350
• Population2 Density	170/km2 (440/sq mi)
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. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

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

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

Geography

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

Mazamet is an industrial town. Numerous establishments are employed in wool-spinning and in the manufacture of swan-skins and flannels, and clothing for troops, and hosiery, and there are important tanneries and leather-dressing, glove and dye works. Extensive commerce is carried on in wool and raw hides from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, and South Africa (Cape Colony).

Personalities

• Pierre Sancan, pianist and composer, was born in Mazamet in 1916.
• Pierre Capretz, developer of the French in Action series for teaching French, was born in Mazamet in 1925.
• Laurent Jalabert and his younger brother Nicolas Jalabert, both professionals in Road bicycle racing, were born here.
• 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.

Twin towns

Mazamet is twinned with:

• Rybnik in Poland (since 04.06.1993) ^[1]

See also

• Castres-Mazamet Airport
• Communes of the Tarn department
• Tourism in Tarn

References

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

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mazamet.

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