Aude (river)

The Aude (French pronunciation: [od] ; Occitan: [ˈawðe]; Latin Atax [ˈataks]) is a river of southern France that is 224 kilometres (139 mi) long. Its source is in the Pyrenees mountains then runs to Carcassonne and finally reaches the Mediterranean Sea near Narbonne. The river is navigable by raft or canoe for nearly all of its length. It is registered as essential to the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The river gave its name to the Aude department.

In antiquity, the Aude was called Atax by the Romans. Some authors in antiquity called the river Narbôn (e.g. Polybius). In 1342 the Roussillon Cartulary of Alart called it the Auda or the Ribera d'Aude. In the Middle Ages the terms Adice, again Atax, Fluvium Atacis, Flumine Atace, Flumen Ataze, and Juxta Aditum fluvium were also used to designate the Aude. In all likelihood the current name comes from a gradual evolution of Atax given by Strabo (in his Geography, Book IV), a word borrowed from the Gallic term atacos meaning "spirited" or "very fast".

The river has its source in the Massif of Carlit at the Lac d'Aude at an elevation of 2,185 metres (7,169 ft) in the commune of Les Angles (department of Pyrénées-Orientales) and flows parallel to the Tet. The Col de la Quillane, elevation 1,713 metres (5,620 ft), marks the boundary of the watershed. The river then flows into the Mediterranean Sea a few kilometres from Narbonne at Grau de Vendres (near Cabanes-de-Fleury) on the border between the departments of Aude and Hérault. At Carcassonne in the Pyrénées its course is oriented north-south. The Aude then presents the characteristics of a mountain stream as it traverses Capcir and feeds several reservoirs (Matemale, Puyvalador) before plunging into gorges (those of Saint-Georges are the most scenic) crossing ancient terrain. Starting from Axat, after being joined by the Aiguette on the right bank and the Rébenty on the left bank, the river flows through bands of pre-Pyrénéen limestone (in the Pierre-Lys Gorges) and passes through a series of small communes: Quillan, Espéraza, Couiza, Alet-les-Bains, then Limoux. Downstream of this great medieval city, the Aude flows eastwards. This elbow results from a Stream capture, the Aude having once flowed in the valley of the Hers, indicating a deepening by an ancient hydrology following the uplifting of the Pyrénées.

From Carcassonne, the river becomes calmer following the great tectonic furrow which separates the Pyrénées (Corbières) from the Massif Central (Montagne Noire), receiving from these heights a series of tributaries of which the main ones are the Orbieu on the right bank, and the Argent-Double and the Casse on the left bank. From this point, bordered by the Canal du Midi and sinuous amid vineyards, the Aude enters the broad alluvial plain of Narbonne with the main stream flowing to the Gulf of Lion and some waters diverted to a network of ancient ponds before flowing into the Mediterranean Sea .

The Aude has a catchment area of 6,074 square kilometres (2,345 mi2) that extends unevenly across six departments: Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Tarn, and Hérault (Haute-Garonne and Tarn are only affected by the course of tributaries and sub-tributaries of the river). Before Carcassonne, the Aude receives tributary streams of short length which often have the characteristics of mountain torrents. Starting from the prefecture of Aude department in the lower valley the Aude river joins with the largest rivers, most of them from the Montagne Noire. From upstream to downstream, the main tributaries of the Aude, longer than 10 km, are:

Flows through: France.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.