Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ pɔl tʁwɑ ʃɑto]; Vivaro-Alpine: Sant Pau de Tricastin), sometimes known as St-Paul-en-Tricastin, is a commune, an administrative region, in the Drôme department in southeastern France.

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Sant Pau de Tricastin (Occitan)
Commune
A general view of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux
Coat of arms
Location of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Show map of France Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 44°20′59″N 4°46′08″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Drôme
Arrondissement	Nyons
Canton	Le Tricastin
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Michel Catelinois[1]
Area 1	22.04 km2 (8.51 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	8,776
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	26324 /26130
Elevation	49–290 m (161–951 ft) (avg. 111 m or 364 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Name

The settlement is attested as Augusta Tricastinorum (1st c. AD), Trikastinoi ōn polis Noiomagos (2nd c.), Sancti Pauli vel Sancti Restituti Trigastinensi (993), in Tricastrinensi (1132), civitate Tricastrina (1136), San Paul (ca. 1180), Sanctum Paulum Tricastinensem (1338), and Sainct Pol Trois Chasteaux (1545).^[3]

The toponym derives from the name of the ancient Gallic tribe that dwelled in the region, the Tricastini. The insertion of an epenthetic r that changed Tricastini to Tricastrini, which is attested by the 12th century, caused a semantic reinterpretation of the name, leading eventually to the modern French Trois-Châteaux, meaning 'three-castles' (Latin Tria-Castra).^[3]

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 2,040 —     1800 1,505 −4.25% 1806 1,962 +4.52% 1821 1,633 −1.22% 1831 1,982 +1.96% 1836 2,071 +0.88% 1841 2,183 +1.06% 1846 2,085 −0.91% 1851 2,192 +1.01% 1856 2,227 +0.32% 1861 2,516 +2.47% 1866 2,558 +0.33% 1872 2,315 −1.65% 1876 2,290 −0.27% 1881 2,250 −0.35% 1886 2,500 +2.13% 1891 2,427 −0.59% 1896 2,557 +1.05%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 2,185 −3.10% 1906 1,879 −2.97% 1911 1,973 +0.98% 1921 1,528 −2.52% 1926 1,558 +0.39% 1931 1,480 −1.02% 1936 1,485 +0.07% 1946 1,270 −1.55% 1954 1,679 +3.55% 1962 2,213 +3.51% 1968 4,350 +11.92% 1975 4,349 −0.00% 1982 6,412 +5.70% 1990 6,789 +0.72% 1999 7,277 +0.77% 2007 8,340 +1.72% 2012 8,757 +0.98% 2017 8,937 +0.41%
Source: EHESS[4] and INSEE (1968-2017)[5]

Sport

It was the start of stage 16 of the 2011 Tour de France, 162.5 km (101 mi) to Gap, as well as the start city for stage 13 of the 2012 Tour de France,^[6] 217 km (135 mi) to Cap d'Agde.

Twin towns — sister cities

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux is twinned with:

• Eltmann, Germany (1975)
• Trecate, Italy (2003)

See also

• Communes of the Drôme department
• Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux Cathedral
• Tricastin
• Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant