Montans is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Tarn department in southern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

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Geography

Situated between Lisle-sur-Tarn

Lisle-sur-Tarn

Lisle-sur-Tarn is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-Geography:The city is located halfway between Toulouse and Albi on the A68 motorway, in the Gaillac vineyard, on the banks of the Tarn. Historically speaking, it is also located on one of the ancient Ways of St...

 and Gaillac

Gaillac

Gaillac is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-Geography of Gaillac:Gaillac is a town situated between Toulouse, Albi and Monatauban. It has gained a large amount of recognition due to the wines that bear the towns name. The Tarn river runs along the border of the town by the...

, near the A68 autoroute

A68 autoroute

The A68 autoroute is a motorway in southern France. It connects Toulouse to Albi. It starts with a junction with the A61 and a junction with the A20 and the N20...

. The village is built at the end of a terrace overlooking the Tarn. It produces wine whose appellation is Gaillac AOC

Gaillac AOC

Gaillac AOC is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in South West France in the département of Tarn, just north of Toulouse.-History:...

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History

The site of Montans was occupied by a Gallic oppidum. Already, the Gauls were producing pottery on the site since the environment was favorable with the alluvium covering the terrace containing pockets of clay. Following the Roman occupation, the site became in the beginning of AD one of the most important centers of pottery production in the Gallo-Roman world. The pottery was exported, mostly by water down the Tarn and Garonne rivers all the way to places like Brittany and Great Britain.

Tourism

L'Archéosite is a museum and documentation center, with an exhibition of pottery from Antiquity and a reconstitution of a Gallo-Roman street and shops leading to the potter's house.

On the bank of the Tarn river, Guest houses offer bedrooms and dinners, such as at the Aigue Verte for example.