Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Castres

To walk out of a big town like Castres is no fun. After about two hours, I had crossed the motorway and reached the Thoré river. I passed under a railway bridge , seen in the foreground, then steps led me up onto the next bridge, where I reached the D50B. Continuing westwards I reached the hamlet of Fongoudou.

The name Castres derives from the Latin "castrum", a fortfified place and probably within the ruins of the abandoned castrum, a monastery was founded as early as 648. This (later) benedictian abbey, keeping the relics of the martyr Saint Vincent (of Saragossa) was an important on the Via Tolosana in the eraly days. This romanesque tower is the last remaining piece of architecture from that abbey of Saint Benoît. Taking this shot I stood in the portal of the "Cathedral of Saint Benoît" (17th/18th). Upto 1790 here was the bishop's see.

Colourful houses by the Agout River in the center of Castres. Tanners and dyers have lived and worked here some centuries ago. Castres has a long history with some very interesting backgrounds and stories. It was even an independent (protestant) republic for a short time (1560). This was the hometown of Jean Jaurès. The Goya museum here is important. CO (Castres olympique), the local rugby team, was french champion three times (1949, 1950, 1993), but what me brought to Castres the first time was Fermat's Last Theorem. Pierre de Fermat died in Castres in 1665. Here he scribbled his "Last Theorem" into a book, he was just reading. He stated, that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer value of n greater than two. Then (probably with a big grin!) he added "Cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi. Hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet" - claiming, that he had a wonderful proof that was too large to fit in the margin. For 358 years the theorem was a nut too hard to crack. In 1995 Andrew Wiles and Richard Taylor finally published a proof. Fermat was right. The print out of the proof needed 98 pages of paper. Here is an interview with Andrew Wiles: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/andrew-wiles-fermat.html Here a photo from 2008, taken from a different pov: www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/4169749494/in/pool-5...

The outskirts of Castres can already be seen (right) on the horizon. Castres is actually the largest town I entered on the Via Tolosana since I left Montpellier. I admit, that after having reached the city limits, I hopped on a bus, that took me right into the city center - and so had a little disput about "cheating on the chemin" with an australian pelerin that evening. The benedictian monastery in Castres, keeping the relics of Saint Vincent, has been important place during the medieval heyday of the Via Tolosana. I had been in Castres a couple of times before, following a totally different thread.