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TARASCON

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 417 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TARASCON , a See also:

town of See also:south-eastern See also:France, in the See also:department of Bouches-du-See also:Rhone, 62 m. N.W. of See also:Marseilles by See also:rail. Pop. (1906) town, 5447; See also:commune, 8972. Tarascon is situated on the See also:left See also:bank of the Rhone opposite See also:Beaucaire, with which it is connected by a railway See also:bridge and a suspension bridge. The See also:church of St Martha, built in 1187—97 on the ruins of a See also:Roman See also:temple and rebuilt in 1379—1449, has a See also:Gothic See also:spire, and many interesting pictures in the interior. Of the See also:original See also:building there remain a See also:porch, and a See also:side portal flanked by See also:marble columns with capitals like those of St Trophimus at See also:Arles. The former leads to the See also:crypt, where are the tombs of St Martha (1658), See also:Jean de Gossa, See also:governor of See also:Provence under See also:King Rene, and See also:Louis II., king of Provence. The See also:castle, picturesquely situated on a See also:rock, was begun by See also:Count Louis H. in the 14th See also:century and finished by King Rene in the 15th. It contains a See also:turret See also:stair and a See also:chapel entrance, which are charming examples of 15th-century See also:architecture, and See also:fine wooden ceilings. The building is now used as a See also:prison. The hotel-deville See also:dates from the 17th century.

The See also:

civil See also:court of the See also:arrondissement of Arles is situated at Tarascon, which also possesses a commercial court, and fine See also:cavalry See also:barracks. The so-called Arles sausages are made here, and there is See also:trade in See also:fruit and See also:early vegetables. In Tartarin de Tarascon See also:Alphonse See also:Daudet has satirized the provincial See also:life of Tarascon. Its uneventfulness Galeodes lucasii, an Arachnid of the See also:order Solifugae, commonly but wrongly called See also:tarantula in See also:Egypt. is varied by the See also:fair of Beaucaire, and it used to be the See also:scene of the two fetes of La Tarasque, the latter in celebration of St Martha's deliverance of the town from a legendary See also:monster of that name. King Rene presided in 1469, and See also:grand exhibitions of See also:costume and See also:strange ceremonies take See also:place during the two days of the festival. Tarascon was originally a See also:settlement of the Massaliots, built on an See also:island of the Rhone. The See also:medieval castle, where See also:Pope See also:Urban II. lived in 1096, was built on the ruins of a Roman See also:camp. The inhabitants of Tarascon preserved the municipal institutions granted them by the See also:Romans, and of the See also:absolute See also:power claimed by the See also:counts of Provence they only recognized the rights of See also:sovereignty.

End of Article: TARASCON

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