#tarascon

[meta-holott]

1982 France, Tarascon

[retrogeographie]

Tarascon, quartier Souspiron.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Tarasque procession in Tarascon, Provence region of France

French vintage postcard, mailed in 1907 to Paris

[philoursmars]

Il y a une dizaine de jours, je suis parti retrouver Christine à Narbonne.

Quelques photos du trajet en train : la Gare Saint-Charles (1), le mont Ventoux vu des environs d'Avignon (2), Tarascon et son château en bord du Rhône(3), de l'autre côté du fleuve, Beaucaire (4 et 5), l'étang de Thau - sans certitude (6,7 et 8), et avant Narbonne, l'arrière du train (et pas l'arrière-train, je précise quand même)

[briefbestiary]

A fearsome dragon with a defensively strong body and a vicious temperament. It was quickly tamed under the holy water and cross carried by Saint Martha, led back to town, and then killed by the townsfolk.

[dutchjan]

May 07, 2023

[mundillotaurino]

Tarascon : Lalo de Maria remporte le Trophée Nimeño II devant un bon Blohorn

A l’occasion de la Féria du Jouvenço 2024 de Tarascon, la novillada annuelle a donné lieu à un desafio ganadero franco-français entre les élevages de Gallon et Blohorn. Une novillada globalement entretenue, se laissant toréer dans l’ensemble. Lalo de Maria a coupé l’unique oreille de la tarde grâce à une bonne efficacité épée en main et capable de tirer de bons passage face au quatrième novillo…

[ukdamo]

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the church of St Martha, in Tarascon, France.

The church / sanctuary is built on the site of her house. She moved to Tarascon from Bethany in 48 CE, taming a water dragon that was terrifying the locality. The citizens butchered it anyway.

(Frankly, I might have left at that point).

[postcard-from-the-past]

100 years ago:

Medieval, Tarascon Castle, France

photo via kara

[bkenber]

'The Nun II' Movie and 4K Review

The following review was written by Ultimate Rabbit correspondent, Tony Farinella. In the interest of transparency, I must admit I either saw “The Nun” and it was so bad and I completely erased it from my memory, or I haven’t seen it at all. I’m leaning toward the latter.  However, I’m pleased to report “The Nun II” was a very satisfying cinematic achievement. In fact, I need to go back and…

[meta-holott]

1982 France, Tarascon

[letraindemanu]

Vidéo : Transport de fret, quand 2 médias se complètent

Vidéo : Transport de fret, quand 2 médias se complètent

Episode 382 • Pour son dernier reportage vidéo de la saison, Thierry Pupier nous invite à bord d’un train de fret sur la Ligne des Cévennes. Un reportage qui complète parfaitement un article paru récemment dans Loco-Revue.  Notre ami Thierry Pupier, qui anime le site Aiguillages.eu, nous gratifie, pour son dernier reportage de cette quinzième saison, d’un voyage sur la Ligne des Cévennes à bord…

[postcard-from-the-past]

Tarasque procession in Tarascon, Provence region of France

French vintage postcard, mailed in 1912

[racout]

La Tarasque

Note: I'm an English learner and I wrote this text to practise my written English. If you want to give me feedback about my English, please go ahead!

The Tarasque is a legendary creature from the commune of Tarascon, Bouches-du-Rhône. It was a half-dragon, half-fish beast that lived a long time ago in the Rhône, terrorising the locals, until St. Martha tamed it. This is the story told by Jacobus de Voragine in The Golden Legend, a collection of stories about the lives of several saints.

It seems that these events take place during the 1st century A.D. Martha, who devoted herself to serving Jesus Christ, travelled on a boat with her brother and her sister. Although they lost the sails, the oars and the rudder, they managed to reach Marseille. Then, they travelled to the area between Arles and Avignon. This is where Martha heard about a half-dragon and half-fish creature. She was told that it was bigger than an ox or a horse, and its maw was full of enormous teeth. People said it was the descendant of a sea monster and it came from the Galatia sea. This creature attacked travellers and sank boats sailing on the river. Martha decided that she had to help the local population. She went on the bank of the Rhône and met the ferocious beast. She poured holy water on it and brandished a cross. Thus, the monster became gentle and docile. Martha fastened it with her belt and took it to the villagers. The latter attacked it and killed it to finally make it pay after all these years of terror. Martha stayed in the village and devoted her life to prayer and fasting. She was considered a saint and in the XVth century the Sainte-Marthe Church was built.

During the same century, king René invented les Fêtes de la Tarasque, a festival to celebrate Saint Martha and the beast. He also founded l'Ordre des Chevaliers de la Tarasque (the Order of the Knights of the Tarasque) of which members are called Tarascaïres. Les Fêtes de la Tarasque are still celebrated today, every year in June, and are inspired by the legend. Numerous shows are organised, including the running of the Tarasque, during which the Tarascaïres carry around a reproduction of the beast, teasing and scaring the public. The creature is green and red, with a tail and a shell covered with thorns on its back. This event is also an occasion to celebrate more aspects of the local culture. Thus, one can see people dressed in traditional clothing during the parade, or participate in activities about Alphonse Daudet's character Tartarin of Tarascon. These few days have a religious importance too, as the local Christian community also celebrates St. Martha. The cleric, for instance, blesses the Tarasque at the opening of the event.

Some think the Tarasque could represent the river overflowing and destroying everything around. Or they see in this legend the victory of Christianity over Gaulish beliefs: the Tarasque personifies the pagan cult, "defeated" by St. Martha after she spreaded Christianity. After all, it seems that one of the reasons for her journey was to convert new believers.

In conclusion, I want to draw attention to the Tarasque's likeness to the Drac of Beaucaire. Beaucaire is on the opposite side of the Rhône, and the similarity between Tarascon’s and Beaucaire’s creatures is probably not a coincidence, in my opinion.

Also, I found some Christian website that has, apparently, the full version of The Golden Legend. Here is the list of all the Saints. And here, St. Martha's story.

Sources below

BELOUET Guy. La Tarasque. www.universalis.fr [online]. Encyclopædia Universalis France. Visited between 25/09/22 and 30/09/22.

URL

Encyclopaedia Britannica. Tarascon. www.britannica.com [online]. June 30, 2017. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

Jacques DE VORAGINE. Légende de Sainte Marthe. In: La Légende dorée : Volume 1. Paris : Charles Gosselin, 1843, p. 191.

Le Parisien. Ses chevaliers perpétuent la tradition. www.leparisien.fr [online]. 12 août 2014. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

Marie GASPA, Perrine ALRANQ. Les fêtes de la Tarasque. www.culture.gouv.fr [online]. Visited between 25/09/22 and 30/09/22.

URL (PDF)

Musée du Vieux Nîmes. Fiche pédagogique sur la Tarasque. nimes.fr [online]. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

Ville de Tarascon. Les Fêtes de la Tarasque. www.tarascon.fr [online]. Visited between 25/09/22 and 29/09/22.

URL

[philoursmars]

L'année du Dragon arrive !

Une longue série de dragons arrive... Ici, des dragons baroques, classiques et apparentés...

Versailles, le Bassin du Dragon

Rome, Piazza del Popolo

Marseille, MuCEM - limonaire - Paris, 1909

Tarascon - la Tarasque

Arras, musée des Beaux-Arts- expo Versailles - le Dragon du Labyrinthe

Louvre-Lens, expo "Les Tables du Pouvoir" - aiguière - Brésil, 17ème s.

idem, expo "Animaux fantastiques" - Jean Gargot - "La Grand Goule" - Abbaye Sainte-Croix de Poitiers, 1677

idem - Hendrick Goltzius, gravure d'après Cornelis Cornelisz - "Le Dragon dévorant les compagnons de Cadmos" - Haarlem, 1588

[postcard-from-the-past]

100 years ago:

Château de Tarascon from the River Rhone, France. Photo by Amber Maitrejean