Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne

Saint-Gaudens (Gascon: "Sent Gaudenç") is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. It is the capital of the "arrondissement" of Saint-Gaudens and of the canton of Saint-Gaudens.
History.
In antiquity, the present place of the city was near a Roman road between Toulouse and Dax, where there was a rural area called "Mansus"; "Mansus" was named later as "Mas Saint-Pierre" after the Christianization of the region.
In 475, a young Christian boy, Gaudens, was killed by the Visigoths and he was buried in this place. The town took its current name in the ninth century, because may people came here to worship the martyr; the relics of Gaudens were deposited in the church of Mas-Saint-Pierre.
As an important regional market place, Saint-Gaudens became the economic capital of the Comminges (a natural region and an old French region on the hills at the base of the Pyrenees).
Geography.
The city of Saint-Gaudens is in the Comminges, at the foot of the Pyrenees. It is about to the southwest of Toulouse and at about from Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées).
It is found on the left side of the Garonne river.
The "commune" has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .
Climate.
The climate of Saint-Gaudens, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers.
Population.
The inhabitants of Saint-Gaudens are known, in French, as "Saint-Gaudinois" (women: "Saint-Gaudinoises").
Saint-Gaudens has a population, in 2014, of 11,255, for a population density of inhabitants/km2.
Evolution of the population in Saint-Gaudens
Administration.
Saint-Gaudens is a subprefecture of the Haute-Garonne department, the capital of the "arrondissement" of Saint-Gaudens and the administrative centre () of the canton of Saint-Gaudens.
It is part of the intercommunality "Cœur et Coteaux de Comminges" ().
Sister cities.
Saint-Gaudens is twinned with:
Sites of interest.
Some important buildings are: