TARBES, LOURDES AND THE SUCCESSIVE CHANGES OF THE BED OF THE GAVE OF PAU,The Adour, France,Antique Map

HISTORICAL MAP CHART

TARBES, a town of south-western France, capital of the department of Hautes-Pyrnes, 98 m. W.S.W. of Toulouse on the Southern railway. Tarbes is situated in a beautiful and fertile plain, in full view of the Pyrenees, on the left bank of the Adour, streams from which are conducted through all parts of the town. The lines of the Southern railway from Morcenx to Bagnres-deBigorre and Lourdes and from Toulouse to Bayonne cross here. Chief among the many open spaces is the Jardin Massey (35 acres), given to his native town by a director of the gardens of Versailles and containing a museum of sculptures, paintings and antiquities. Near a small lake stands a cloister (15th century) transferred from the abbey of St Sevei-de-Rustan, 14 m. N.E. of Tarbes, and a bust of Thophile Gautier, a native of Tarbes. The architecture of the cathedral, Notre Dame de La Sde, is heavy and unpleasing, but the cupola of the transept (14th century), the modern glass in the 12th-century apse, and a rose window of the 13th century, in the north transept, are worthy of notice. There is also a modernized Carmelite church originally built in the 13th century. Tarbes is a well-known centre for the breeding of Anglo-Arabian horses, much used by light cavalry; and its stud is the most important in the south of France. The industrial establishments include tanneries, tile-works, saw-mills and turners shops. There are important fairs and markets. Well-known race-meetings are held on the Laloubre course. Under the Roman dominion Turba, which was about 11m. SE. of the present town of Tarbes, was the capital of the Bigerriones, one of the states of Novempopulania. The bishopric of Tarbes dates from the 5th century, and in feudal times its bishops held the chief temporal authority, that of the counts of Bigorre, of which Tarbes was capital, being limited to the quarter of the town where their castle was built. The English held the town from 1360 to 1406. In 1569 Tarbes was burnt by Gabriel, count of Montgomery, and the inhabitants were driven out. This happened a second time, but in August 1570 the peace of St Germain allowed them to return, Subsequently Tarbes was several times taken and re-taken, and a number of the inhabitants of Bigorre were forced to take refuge in Spain, but in. 1594 the members of the League were finally expelled. The English, under Wellington, gained a victory over the French near Tarbes in 1814. LOURDES, a town of south-western. France in the department of Hautes-Pyrnhes, at the foot of the Pyrenees, 12 m. S.S.W. of Tarbes on the main line of the Southern railway between that town and Pau. Lourdes is divided into an old and a new town by the Gave de Pau, which at this point leaves the valley of Argels and turns abruptly to the west. The old quarter on the right bank surrounds on three sides a scarped rock, on which stands the fortress now used as a prison. Its large square keep of the ,4th century is the chief survival of feudal times. Little is left of the old fortifications except a tower of the ,3th or ,4th century, surmounting a gateway known as the Tour de Garnabie. The old quarter is united with the new town by a bridge which is continued in an esplanade leading to the basilica, the church of the Rosary and the Grotto, with its spring of healing water. The present fame of Lourdes is entirely associated with this grotto where the Virgin Mary is believed in the Roman Catholic world to have revealed herself repeatedly to a peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. A statue of the Virgin stands on a rock projecting above the grotto, the walls of which are covered with crutches and other votive offerings; the spot, which is resorted to by multitudes of pilgrims from all quarters of the world, is marked by a basilica built above the grotto and consecrated in 1876. In addition the church of the Rosary, a rich building in the Byzantine style, was erected in front of and below the basilica from 1884 to 1889. Not far from the grotto are several other caves, where prehistoric remains have been found. The Hospice de Notre-Dame de Douleurs is the chief of the many establishments provided for the accommodation of pilgrims. Lourdes is a fortified place of the second class; and is the seat of the tribunal of first instance of the arrondissement of Argels. There are marble and slate quarries near the town. The pastures of the neighborhood support a breed of Aquitaine cattle, which is most highly valued in south-western France.

1890s Wood Engraving, Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 7 X 10 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate INTEXT MAP - Excellent Condition. Beautiful with excellent detail. There is Text on Front and Back Side.