Aigues-Vives is a commune in the Audedepartment in the Occitanie region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aigues-Vivois or Aigues-Vivoises.
Geography
Localisation
Aigues-Vives is located in the north-east of Aude department in the Minervois area some 50 km west by north-west of Narbonne and 14 km east by north-east from Carcassonne. It is traversed by Highway D206 going north-east from Badens through the heart of the commune and the town and continues north-east out of the commune to Rieux-Minervois. Highway D57 also traverses the commune from Laure-Minervois in the north intersecting the Highway D206 in the town of Aigues-Vives and continuing south to join the east-west D610 highway. The commune is entirely farmland except for the town and a hill on the western edge. There are a few scattered buildings but no villages or towns other than Aigues-Vives. The Ruisseau de Puits flows from the hill in the west to north of the town where it joins the Canal Nord. There are a few other streams in the commune including the Reals, the Mirausse, the Genet, the Mijane, the Canet, the Neuf, the Canal Sud, and the Rigole d'Aigues-Vives.
Neighbouring communes and villages
History
The first document attesting to the existence of Aigues-Vives was transcribed from the LatinAquaviva in 994, although some say 993. It was an exchange between Udulgarius, Abbot of Caunes and Roger Trencavel, Viscount of Carcassonne.
The Étang de Marseillette is adjacent to the village of Aigues-Vives but dried up in the 19th century. This depression of about 2000 hectares is irrigated by the Aude. The land is covered with crops mainly vineyards and apple orchards. The area of the dried-up pond of Marseillette is next to the Aigues-Vives houses.
The commune has one religious building that is registered as an historical monument:
The Church of Saint Alexandre has a tower that is a registered historical monument, a Gothicchevet and a tower adjoining the church. The Church contains one item that is registered as an historical object:
A Discoidal Steles can be seen under the Porch of the church.
The Cemetery contains 2 Funerary Steles
Local life
In 1902, thanks to the Mayor, Eugene Ressier, Aigues-Vives became an electrified village. The STMF, which was founded in 1900 by Joachim Estrade, installed electricity in the village.
Celebration and culture
Each year on the second Saturday in October, the "Cavinades" festival is held where winemakers offer tastings of their wine - white, rosé or red from the wine country Coteaux de Peyriac and Minervois. On the following day each year there is also a celebration for apples, wine and rice.
Notable people linked to the commune
Pierre Bayle, a potter/ceramist, born in Aigues-Vives on 3 June 1945, died on 18 March 2004 in Béziers.
Lucien Trougnoux called Louis, born on 25 August 1901 in Louans, died in June 1945 at the sanatorium in Goisern was a French Resistance fighter. He refused the surrender of France in 1940 and the system of the French State of Petain-Laval. He was active in the French resistance. He was a member of a group affiliated with the OSS. In Carcassonne he ran the departmental office supplying straw and fodder which served as a cover. He was the central mailbox of the "Fred Tommy Brown" network and he kept the radio transmitter in his office in Carcassonne, then later at Aigues-Vivespost office which was run by his wife. On Thursday, 17 November 1943, Lucien Trougnoux was arrested by the Gestapo and the French milice in his home in the Aigues-Vives Post Office. He was imprisoned in the Baumettes Prison in Marseille until early March 1944. He was then deported to Mauthausen. Liberated in May 1945, Lucien Trougnoux died of sickness on 31 May 1945 at the sanatorium of the 1st Army of Colmar in Goisern.
