The 'Garonne' (in
French: ''Garonne''; in
Occitan,
Catalan and
Spanish: ''Garona''; in
Latin: ''Garumna'') is a
river in southwest
France and northern
Spain, with a length of 575 km (357 miles).
Origin of the name
The name "Garonne", ''Garumna'' in the
Antiquity, is a native name still meaning 'river' in
Gascon. It derives from the
Aquitanian (language related to old
Basque) word ''
★
kʰarr-'', meaning "rock", akin to modern Basque ''harri'', "stone", and from a
Pre-Indo-European suffix ''-unn-,
-onna'' which means "source, river", and which can be found in the name of many rivers of western Europe (such as the
Seine, the
Saône, etc.).
Geography
The river rises in the
Val d'Aran (
Spanish Pyrenees), flowing via
Toulouse towards
Bordeaux, where it flows into the
Gironde estuary. The Gironde Estuary flows into the
Atlantic Ocean (
Bay of Biscay).
In its flow, the Garonne is joined by three other major rivers: the
Ariège, the
Tarn, the
Lot. Just after Bordeaux, the Garonne river finally meets the
Dordogne, after which the two rivers become the
Gironde estuary which after approximately 60 miles joins the
Atlantic Ocean. Other tributaries include the
Save and the
Gers.
The Garonne is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit a
tidal bore. Surf boarders, jet skiers, etc. can ride the tidal bore as least as far as the village of
Cambes (70 miles from the
Atlantic) and even further upstream.
Towns along the river
★
Val d'Aran (Spain):
Vielha
★
Haute-Garonne (31):
Saint-Gaudens,
Muret,
Toulouse
★
Tarn-et-Garonne (82):
Castelsarrasin
★
Lot-et-Garonne (47):
Agen,
Marmande
★
Gironde(33):
Langon,
Bordeaux,
Blaye,
Le Verdon-sur-Mer
★
Charente-Maritime (17):
Royan
Main tributaries
Following the flow of the river:
Navigation
The Garonne plays an important role in inland shipping. The river not only allows seagoing vessels to reach the port of
Bordeaux but also forms part of the "
Canal des Deux Mers", the canal that links the
Mediterranean Sea to the
Atlantic Ocean (
Bay of Biscay), allowing a shorter and safer way for goods to pass from the agricultural areas of the South of France to the Atlantic.
From the Ocean, ships pass through the Gironde estuary until the mouth of the Gironde, the left of the two rivers for those who sail upstream. The Garonne remains navigable for larger vessels up to the "
Pont de Pierre" (Stone Bridge) in Bordeaux. River vessels can sail upstream to
Castets-en-Dorthe, where the
Garonne Lateral Canal (
Canal Latéral à la Garonne) joins the river. The lateral canal takes the ships through 53
locks to the town of Toulouse, where the canal meets the
Canal du Midi, with which its form the "Canal des Deux Mers".
The Garonne Lateral Canal was subject to one of the largest infrastructure works in Europe, when it was adapted to the standardized barge size of 38 by 5 meters, during the last century. French minister
Freycinet ordered that all canals with importance for long distance transport be suitable for vessels of those standard dimensions. The extension of ALL the former 30 meter locks to the new standard length was carried out throughout the lateral canal. The other half of the Canal des Deux Mers, the Canal du Midi, partly escaped this operation, because by the time the works had reached the area where the most locks were situated, commercial traffic on the canal had almost disappeared. The works were stopped, leading to the
cultural heritage status of the United Nations that has made the Canal du Midi famous. (Source:
NoorderSoft Waterways database)
See also
★
List of rivers of Europe
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