Méras

Méras; Meràs
Region	Occitania
Department (No)	Ariège (09)
Arrondissement	Saint-Girons
Canton	Arize-Lèze
Community association	Arize Lèze
Coordinates	43° 11′ N, 1° 19′ ECoordinates 43° 11′ N, 1° 19′ O
Height	264–394 m
Area	3,66 km²
Inhabitants	108 (January 1, 2018)
Population density	30 inhabitants/km²
Postal code	09350
INSEE code	09186

Méras (Occitan Meràs) is a commune in France with 108 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2018) in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region (formerly Midi-Pyrénées); it is part of the Saint-Girons arrondissement and the Arize-Lèze canton.

Location

Méras is located in the north of the Département Ariège. The nearest town is Pamiers, about 26 kilometres (as the crow flies) to the east-southeast; the major city of Toulouse is just under 70 kilometres away to the north. The municipality lies in the Massif du Plantaurel.

The commune consists of the village of Méras and several individual farmsteads

History

A (defunct) castle of Méras is first mentioned in 1263 as belonging to the Counts of Foix. The village was part of the castlanei of Le Carla within the county of Foix and was ruled by the collateral line of Foix-Rabat. The village was ravaged by Huguenots during the Wars of Religion in 1568. The commune belonged to the district of Mirepoix-Pamiers from 1793 to 1801. It was also in the Canton of Daumazan from 1793 to 1801 and was part of the Canton of Le Mas d’Azil from 1801 to 2015 (1793-1801 under the name of Canton Mas d’Azis).

Population development

Year	1793	1831	1836	1876	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2012
Inhabitants	131	158	140	189	67	71	73	63	45	61	75	102
Sources: Cassini and INSEE

In the 19th century, the village had almost 200 inhabitants at times. The increasing mechanization of agriculture led to a continuous decline in the number of inhabitants to the lows of more recent times.

Places of interest

Saint-Martin village church; built in 1633, extended in 1863; the bell tower dates from 1927
Wayside cross on the D26 west of the village

Web links

Commons: Méras– Collection of images, videos and audio files