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Sète (Municipality, Hérault, France)

Presentation of Sète
Flag of Sète
- Former flag of Sète
Water jousting in Sète

See also:

Presentation of Sète

Sète (Occitan: Seta, also historically spelt Cette [official until 1928] and Sette - 44,712 inhabitants in 2021; 2,421 ha), is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania.
Known as the Venice of Languedoc and the singular island (in Paul Valéry's words), it is a port and a seaside resort on the Mediterranean with its own very strong cultural identity, traditions, cuisine and dialect. It has been the hometown of such artists as Paul Valéry, Jean Vilar, Georges Brassens, Hervé Di Rosa, Manitas de Plata, and Robert Combas.

In 1596, Henri de Montmorency, governor of Languedoc, chose Cape Sète to establish a port. The work was entrusted to Jean Donnat and ordered by Pierre d'Augier, Provost General of Languedoc. For lack of money,
they were stopped in 1605. In 1663, the Gulf of Lion sheltered a French port in Marseille. The Chevalier de Clerville, the king's engineer, was commissioned by Jean-Baptiste Colbert to prospect the Languedoc coast in order to select a place to make a port of it. After a feasibility study, the engineer chose a wild promontory at the end of a strip of land, at the exit of the Etang de Thau. To celebrate the importance of this choice, on July 29, 1666, François du Bosquet, bishop of Montpellier, celebrated a mass and a blessing ceremony for the enshrinement of the first stone intended to be at the end of the Saint-Louis mole. In 1684, Vauban visited the port. The Saint-Louis church was consecrated in 1703. From July 24 to 29, 1710, Sète was attacked and taken by the British, who were quickly driven out by the Duke of Noailles. At the end of 1710-1711, the Saint-Pierre and Butte-Ronde forts were built. In 1744, the Richelieu citadel and the Castellas tower were built. After the French Revolution, plowing intensified in the catchment area, while land clearing, once slowed down by Colbert, resumed after the abolition of privileges. This promoted soil erosion and the waters of the catchment area became more and more turbid. They carry alluvial deposits which clog the port. On October 26, 1809, the 80-gun ship Le Robuste was beached and burned in front of the port. On May 21, 1821, the first stone of the breakwater was laid (finished in 1869). On June 9, 1839, the Montpellier-Cette railway line was opened.

On 12 November 1942 the town was occupied by the German troops of the Wehrmacht. On 25 June 1944 Sète railway station, Balaruc-les-Bains's and Frontignan's oil refineries were bombarded by the American 15th
Air Force. On 20 August 1944 Sète was liberated.

In 1960, the Théâtre de la Mer was built. In 1966–1978 major construction works on the port took place. In 1970, the Museum Paul Valéry was opened. On 31 October 1991, the espace Georges Brassens, a
museum dedicated to the singer, opened.

Olivier Touzeau, 11 April 2023

Flag of Sète

The current flag of Sète is white with the city logo, as observed in front of the tourist office: photo (2023), photo (2017), photo (2012).
The logo was adopted in 2007.

Olivier Touzeau, 11 April 2023

Former flag of Sète

FFormer flag of Sète - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 11 April 2023

According to French vexillologist friend Pascal Vagnat, the former flag was white with the coat of arms and the name of the commune (source: emblemesdefrance website).

The arms of Sète are blazoned:
Azure Semé-de-lis Or, a whale Sable head downwards, eyes Argent, blowing a jet Or charged with three grenades also Sable ignited Gules.

Olivier Touzeau, 11 April 2023

Water jousting in Sète

Water jousting is a traditional sport in several places of France, especially in the city of Lyon (joutes lyonnaises) and in Mediterranean ports.

Sète is famous for the joutes languedociennes, which are an important component of the local heritage, and take place in the Canal Royal from April to September.
Basically, water jousting bring together two competitors who stand on the tintaine, a kind of heightened platform placed in the front of a heavy boat manned by a crew of tough rowers. Each competitor holds a long pole and a wooden shield called pavois. When the two boats meet, the winner is the first competitor who can throw his opponent down to the water. Water jousting requires tactical and physical skills, and can be practiced only by men, for evident physiological reasons.
The most important competition in Sète takes place during the Fêtes de la Saint-Louis, at the end of August. The winner is awarded a pavois selected during a public contest. The best jousters are among the most estimated people in Sète and are awarded nicknames, such as the Terrible (Barthélémy Abenque), the Hundred Wins' Man (Vincent Cianni) and the Unmovable (Casimir Castaldo). There is in Sète a jousting school for children and a museum of the history of water jousting in Languedoc. Water jousting was traditionnally a fishers and dockers' sport but every good (male) citizen of Sète must have climbed on the tintaine at least once in his life. Those who dared do it say that it is something extremely impressive.

Source: Website of the tourist office of Sète

In each assault, there is a blue and a red team, with uniforms, boat pole and shield decorated accordingly. The flags flawn by the boats are quartered blue and white, and red and white respectively.

Ivan Sache & Marin Montagnon, 28 February 2005

The tradition of the the joutes languedociennes dates from the 17th century. The first tournaments took place in Agde in 1601, then in 1627 in Frontignan and in 1665 in Mèze. In Sète the first games took place on
July 29, 1666 to celebrate the founding of the Port of Sète, which was part of the work planned for the Canal du Midi. In the 18th century, tournaments opposed married men to young single people, in the different districts troops were formed led by a captain assisted by a lieutenant and a sign carrying the flag of his company. The color of married men was red, that of bachelors being blue, these colors were found on their clothes, their boats and their spears. Jousting nowadays still opposes blue and red boats, with B/W and R/W flags, sometimes bearing in the upper white square the emblem of the jousting society.

See photos, photos, photos.

Olivier Touzeau, 11 April 2023

Flags used in water jousting - Images by Ivan Sache, 26 February 2005