surba

Municipality of Surba Altitude: 470 m Location: in the direction of Massat and the Col de Port located in Sabarthès Number of inhabitants: 322 Distances: Tarascon-sur-Ariège 4 km Surba is a mountain village surrounded by the peak of Soudour (Sédour ) which itself is bordered by the Courbière river. The Romanesque church of Saint-Nicolas and the place of Surba are one of the strong points of the power of the abbey of Foix in Haute Ariège at least from the tenth century. Partly pre-Romanesque, the church is dedicated to Saint Nicolas and was built on a summit, surrounded by its cemetery, following a plan similar to the other churches set up under the influence of this abbey which served the Carolingian then county public power in Central Middle Ages. At the end of the Middle Ages, the village suffered the full force of competition from the towns and was sparsely populated, too poor to be able to pay church taxes. At that time, a first castle-manor was built in the hamlet of Florac. Mentioned since the 8th century in the seigniory of Quié, Florac never seems to have been important enough to have had a church. His mansion was regularly refurbished and was a high quality building in the 12th century. Between Florac and Surba, in the hamlet of Ressec, an iron forge was built in the XNUMXth century. Finally, unlike many villages in upper Ariège, Surba is more populated today than it was in the middle of the XNUMXth century because many housing estates of individual houses have been built there recently. Opening hours of the town hall: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: XNUMX a.m. to XNUMX p.m.