I. Population and Area

Total Area: 6, 35 km2 (2.45 sq mi)

Population in 2017: 2 267

Population Density: 357 /km2 (925 /sq mi)

 II. Natural Geography (environment and resources)

Beautiran is a commune in southwestern France, located in the Gironde department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

Located in the urban area of Bordeaux at the confluence of the Garonne and the dead Gat, the town is located 21 km southeast of Bordeaux, capital of the department and arrondissement and 7 km west- northwest of La Brède, chief town of canton. It is also part of the urban unit of Portets.

On the left bank of the Garonne, the neighboring municipalities are Castres-Gironde in a large south and southeast, Saint-Selve in the extreme southwest for barely a kilometer, Ayguemorte-les-Graves to the west and Isle-Saint-Georges to the north; on the right bank, the neighboring municipalities are Baurech to the northeast and Tabanac to the east for just 100 meters.

The main road communication route which crosses the city is the departmental road D 1113, old national road 113 (Bordeaux-Marseille), which leads, to the west, to the A62 motorway and towards La Brède then to Martillac towards the north -west and, beyond, to Bordeaux and, to the southwest, to Castres-Gironde and, beyond, to Langon.

The closest Garonne crossing is Langoiran, on the D 115, 3 km northeast of the city center.

Access to the nearest A62 motorway (Bordeaux-Toulouse) is no 1.1, known as La Brède, 4.5 km away by road to the west, in the neighboring municipality of Ayguemorte-les- Serious.

The town has a SNCF station on the Bordeaux-Sète line of the TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

III. Economy

Employment income (%): 76.3 (2016)

Average employment income (€):2 462 net per month (29 538 net per year)（2014）

 IV. Industrial Characterisitics

Viticulture: serious (AOC)

The local economy is based on a fabric of professionals, some of whom are located in the area of activity of the municipality. With its castles or properties, viticulture holds an important place.

Richemer: wines from producers

PHILIPPE RAOUX AREAS

9 route des Palus, 33640 Beautiran

Bringing together 350 winegrowers for 1,500 ha of vines, we carry on the tradition of the first port of the Thau basin, renowned for its white wines that we drink with oysters, and its terrace rosés.

The famous Terret blanc and Marselan grapes, emblematic of local viticulture, are our specialties.

 V. Attractions

1. L’église Saint Michel de Beautiran (Saint Michael de Beautiran church)  

The Saint-Michel church, of Romanesque origin, dates back to the 12th century. It is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the palus on the banks of the Garonne.

The Saint Michel de Beautiran church was built on a rocky outcrop (limestone with asteria) overlooking the Garonne and the "Palus".

It is located at the eastern end of the town.

Part of the building is certainly very old, the porch and apse dating from the 12th century. This is confirmed by the presence at the corner of the south wall of a sundial marked 1116.

The plan of the church consists of a main nave ending in a semicircular apse in the East. Two side naves are themselves terminated by apsidioles. All the apses are tilted towards the north and the solid buttresses support them.

The exterior of the apse, constructed of local rubble, has very old stone crows at its upper part, carved in very simple patterns representing Eucharistic symbols.

The old bell tower as one used to find in the Girondin churches has been replaced by a two-story tower, surmounting the porch. The second stage supports a bell of 0.70 m in diameter, set up and baptized on December 8, 1887.

Mr. Arthur LAFON and Miss Josette CHAMBARRIERE were the godfathers and godmothers. The bell tower dates from 1868 and ends in the shape of a tiara.

The interior arcades of the building are supported by Romanesque and Gothic warheads, they support relatively recent vaults (1897 -1898) which replaced an old wooden ceiling.

The old capitals have been preserved at the base or the Arc Triomphal at the entrance to the apse. We can point out on the left central marquee a sculpture with a naive painting representing the coat of arms of "de Pontac", former barons of Beautiran.

XVII-XVIII century: The coat of arms has a bridge with five silver arches on a river of the same wavy Azure, supporting two towers.

On the side of the front door, we can see a plaque with the inscription with an engraved line indicating the height reached by the river in flood in 1770. The north chapel has baptismal fonts in red marble.

You can also see an award-winning pulpit at the Paris World Fair. Installed between the central apse and the apse of the choir of Saint Joseph.

A vintage confessional in perfect condition can be found at the entrance, on the porch side.

The church has long been dedicated to Saint Michael. A parish register dating from 1584, from the chapel of Mont Saint Michel - BAUTYRAN, is currently in town hall.

A statue of the Archangel formerly placed behind the high altar is still preserved in the church positioned on its pedestal in the nave of the Saint Joseph choir.

Many stained glass windows installed for more than a century on the facades are admired thanks to their wonderful colors and the representation of different scenes and biblical characters.

The church is open daily from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. by volunteers from the parish community.

2. Château de Couloumey (Couloumey Castle)

The Château de Couloumey, from the 18th and 19th centuries, has been listed as a historic monument since 2002.

A RESIDENCE OF THE 18th CENTURY

This beautiful building, with beautiful architectural proportions dating from 1770, is a simple neo-class charterhouse which was raised by one story in the middle of the 19th century.

All the rooms are in double exposure overlooking the inner courtyard of honor located to the West with its octagonal dovecote of the 17th century, listed in the "Dovecotes of France", and the terrace running along the whole house to the East.

This typical wine property of this era recalls the country houses of Provence or the villas of Tuscany. It’s a very sweet general view that characterizes the back of the house like an Italian villa watching time go by. So close to Bordeaux… and a few deer that can cross the property.

Address entered in the Mérimée database:

12 rue des Landes

33640 Beautiran - France

Insee code of the town: 33037

Gironde [33] - Bordeaux - Aquitaine - Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Approximate address from GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude):

8 Route des Landes 33640 Beautiran

History:

18th and 19th century building, including interior decor from the same period, outbuildings and the remains of a large park.

Protected elements:

The house, the terrace on the garden, the wings of the outbuildings (except the altered north-eastern outbuilding), the north access courtyard with its dovecote, the enclosure walls and their gates, the south garden, the two paths planted with trees leading to the water features (cad. C 345: dwelling, common wings, chapel, north courtyard and dovecote located at 12, rue des Landes; C 227: garden with its fencing walls and their gates; C 212, 223: alleys): registration by decree of April 16, 2002 - The water features located south of the castle, with their bridge system, canals and masonry basins (cad. C 214, 216 to 221): registration by decree of April 16, 2002

Construction periods: 18th century; 19th century

Property of a private company

 VI. History

For the state of the town in the 18th century, see the work of Jacques Baurein.

During the Revolution, the parish of Saint-Michel de Beautiran formed the commune of Beautiran.

Through the centuries ... Back in the past to evoke the origin of the name of the town, the Romans who brought wine, the 17th century and the manufacture of Indian canvases or the entry of the community of towns.

Beautiran, Boutiran or Bautiran

Several more or less plausible theories have been put forward concerning the origin of the name Beautiran, but we have to admit that we really know nothing about it.

In old titles, Beautiran was written with a V or a B, which is normal for Gascons, the two letters replacing each other very often. Bautiran or Boutiran was also written.

Beautiran and water:

If the Garonne once covered the equivalent of our Graves wine region, it then withdrew and stabilized in the so-called major course which corresponds to the current flood zone, then it became the river we know .

The first men who naturally originally inhabited the caves and rock shelters on the right bank crossed the river and then settled on our bank to fish and cultivate our rich alluvial land.

They also drained territories or created rust and ports, and they gradually developed a veritable civilization of the river.

The Romans arrive; they bring us wine, Mediterranean plants including new vines, and will contribute to developing the experience of Bordeaux wine since it is the Graves region that will be at the origin. They will also put our ideas in order and change the way we live.

Beautiran in Cernès then in the duchy of Guienne:

The Barbarians also came, devastating. The men of the South, the Saracens and the men of the North who, with strange boats will go up the Garonne to Agen.

And here are the English. They like our region, they stay there for a long time, they harvest there, they mainly sell our wine, until the Battle of Castillon which will end the Hundred Years War.

In Terre Gasque:

The Girondins seem to have a reputation for founders.

In the middle of the 17th century, it was the Fronde de Bordeaux and our region was to lose its traditional calm for some time. The two camps clash from Bordeaux to Cadillac on the Garonne and its banks, and the skirmishes will be especially intense from Isle Saint Georges to Le Tourne.

The castles of Arbanats, Langoiran, and certainly part of that of Beautiran will be burned. Alexandre Dumas was inspired by this period and later wrote "La Guerre des Femmes".

 VII. Other information

The paintings：

At the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, the elegant women were crazy about the so-called “Indian” or “Toiles de Jouy” printed canvases.

Gay and exotic, they have been brought back by the East India Company and will be used as much for clothing as for the interior decoration of wealthy houses.

Fashion will quickly spread in France and some Indian printing centers will be created near the port cities but also in the east of the country.

Bordeaux, in 1790, already became a non-negligible center of indiennage, but it will however be necessary to await the opening of the Manufacture JP Meillier so that the village is recognized in the matter and becomes the center of printing of printed fabrics the most important of Guyenne-Gascogne.

Printing is believed to begin around 1793.

In 1797, Jean-Pierre Meillier bought the Domaine de Lalande. The property, surrounded by Gat Mort and Rourac de Civrac with particularly pure waters (used for washing and rinsing the fabrics) and vast meadows (for drying) had the additional advantage of being located near the Garonne. and the port of Bordeaux.

The work done at Beautiran joined, in spirit, that done in Nantes; the production is of good and good quality and relatively large since there will be up to 10 to 12,000 pieces per year.

In 1826, the factory employed 112 people.

However, victim of, among other things, fashion that has changed, it will close around 1832; but the senior designer had already become a clothier like many other manufacturers.

The production was however so important and of such quality that one can see it in several museums in France and abroad, and that it is not rare to find in Gironde and elsewhere in the country, this red shades so characteristic illustrated with pretty bucolic and romantic scenes.

"Les Prés du Bergueyrat" course :

A new path, Les Prés du Bergueyrat, along the rust of Civrac, is now accessible.

It starts at the sign "Les Prés du Bergueyrat", located along the RD 1113, at the level of the bridge between Beautiran and Castres, by a slightly steep descent, skirting an old protective wall.

Public wash house

In the past, this passage was used by local residents to access a public wash house, of which only the base of one of the metal pillars remains.

The stream fed in the XVIIth century a mill with two millstones.

Along the rust of Civrac, the walker can observe various protected plants, as well as an insect hotel intended to accommodate several small critters.

The Rust of Civrac takes its source in the commune of Saint-Selve. It runs along the catchment area of the Le Tuquet, Couloumey and Lalande castles, then flows into the Gat Mort at the level of the old stationery under the remains of the Beautiran mill.    Natura 2000 area

On the right, you can see a spontaneous hedgerow meadow. Classified in the Natura 2000 zone, it is a huge natural reserve composed of a flora rich in protected species and serving as habitats for many plant and animal species...

The walker then discovers a wooden walkway which spans another rust, the "Guzot rust". It allows land to be drained from Meiller Road and then flows into the Rust of Civrac. The trigger guard, equipped with a removable plate which is under the footbridge, was used in the past to regulate its water level.

The walk ends in a clearing of large oaks and alders.

On the left, a rustic trigger guard leads to private properties. It is in this clearing that Guzot's Rust starts.

You can then either retrace your steps, or take the Meiller path which ends on the RD 1113 and allows you to see the Château Lalande, place of manufacture of the "Indian" printed canvases of Beautiran in the 18th century as well as the rinsing basin paintings.

 VIII. Contact information

Beautiran town hall address :

Mairie de Beautiran
12 place de Verdun
33640 Beautiran

Mayor : Yves Mayeux (Mandate: 2014-2020)

Phone number: 05 56 67 06 15

Fax: 05 56 67 26 33

Mail: contact@mairie-beautiran.fr

Website : http://www.mairie-beautiran.fr