Pamiers

Pamiers, a town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Ariege, 40 m. S. by E. of Toulouse on the railway to Foix. Pop. (1906), town, 7728; commune, 10,449. Pamiers is the seat of a bishopric dating from the end of the 13th century. The cathedral (chiefly of the 17th century) with an octagonal Gothic tower, is a bizarre mixture of the GraecoRoman and Gothic styles; the church of Notre-Dame du Camp (r7th and 18th centuries) is noticeable for its crenelated and machicolated facade of the 14th century. Pamiers has a subprefecture, a tribunal of first instance, a communal college and a school of commerce and industry. Iron and steel of excellent quality, chains and carriage-springs are among its products. It has also tanneries and wool, flour, paper and saw mills, brickworks and lime-kilns, and commerce in grain, flour, fodder, fruit and vegetables. There are stone quarries and nursery gardens in the vicinity, and the white wine of the district is well known.

Pamiers was originally a castle built in the beginning of the 12th century by Roger II., count of Foix, on lands belonging to the abbey of St Antonin de Fredelas. The abbots of St Antonin, and afterwards the bishops, shared the authority over the town with the counts. This gave rise to numerous disputes between monks, counts, sovereigns, bishops and the consuls of the town. Pamiers was sacked by Jean de Foix in 1486, again during the religious wars, when the abbey of St Antonin was destroyed, and finally, in 1628, by Henry II. of Bourbon prince of Conde.