The Gard, land of hikes
From historic routes to gentle travel: a history to share!
The Gard, at the crossroads between Provence and Languedoc, has always been a land of passage, trade and exchange.
With its feet in the sand of the Mediterranean and its head in the Cevennes mountains, the Gard is a department where life is good. Traces of human occupation attest that this territory has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Between the sea and the mountains, the banks of the Rhône and the Languedoc plain, the inhabitants have always had fruitful exchanges with their neighbours.
To facilitate travel and meetings between peoples, history has left us with a legacy of structuring developments. In ancient times, named after its Roman creator, the Via Domitia was intended to facilitate the conquest of southern Gaul. It opens a road linking Italy and Spain and crosses the Gard from east to west. It invites to a facilitated itinerary for the movement between the people.
Later on, the great pilgrimage routes brought their share of pilgrims, who followed the Way of Santiago de Compostela, the Regordane Route, the footsteps of Urban V, and the Stevenson Route, all of which left their mark on the Gard region, which is steeped in history. They link the high places of Christianity and structure another form of travel.
Saint Louis opened up new perspectives with the installation of the port of Aigues-Mortes, which favoured travel to the Orient....
Later, the digging of canals, including the emblematic Canal du Rhône à Sète, and the installation of railways, facilitated the transport of goods and trade. Like the famous Foires de la Madeleine in Beaucaire, trade became increasingly dense. These railways enabled the agricultural products of the Gard (wine, fruit or vegetables) to find new outlets and above all to transport travellers. The development of the railways has also allowed the installation of a network of small stations, offering today, access to the combined train + bicycle service.
It should not be forgotten that these modern means of transport have replaced the old commercial routes that criss-cross the department and whose traces can be found in the ancient cadastres: salt road, fish path, transhumance path, old railway lines... all of which are the beginnings of the itineraries that cross the Gard region.
Thus, over the centuries, the Gard has benefited from a network of emblematic paths or itineraries, which have been used for walks and discoveries
Nowadays, this heritage is transformed into a perfect playground for cycling and nature lovers. Mountain bike routes, cycle tourism routes, discovery cycle loops and the development of greenways.... the diversity of cycling routes is rich in the Gard region.
The presence of major cycle routes which, as in the past, link the region to other European destinations, enriches the range of cycling itineraries.
Landscape and architecture
The buildings of the Gard are a well-preserved mixture of different architectural heritages inherited from history. Thus, from Grau-du-Roi to Barjac, Beaucaire, Nîmes, Le Vigan or Alès, it is at each cardinal point of the department of completely different methods of construction and styles of urbanism. The south of the department is inextricably linked to the history of the Roman presence in Gaul. The north of the Gard is more linked to the mining and sericulture epic. The Cévennes hillsides still reveal old farmhouses where mulberry trees were grown and silkworms reared, old mills, miners' houses, extraction shafts, or old warehouses that have been reused. Not forgetting the slag heap of Alès. The habitat of the north of the Gard is made up of old rustic houses, narrow, in cut stones, which make the charm of the remote villages at the foot of the Cevennes. The vestiges of Nîmes, the Pont du Gard and the oppidums can still be visited today as if they had not suffered erosion, wars and modernization of man. The Arena of Nîmes is one of the best preserved ancient buildings in Europe. The Roman architecture is unique and not to be missed, with its imposing columns decorated with acanthus leaves and its characteristic steps (for example at the Maison Carrée in Nîmes).
Castles
- The castle of Portes. Built in the 12th century, its function was to watch over the Régordane road, the one that the Crusaders used to travel ten leagues to the Holy Land. Due to the massive industrial extraction of coal into its subsoil, the foundations collapsed in 1929, and the castle was ruined on its base. It was only around 1960 that the cavities were filled in to stabilise it. Its spur, cut at 50° in the shape of a ship's prow, gives the castle a unique shape, which earned it the name "Ship of the Cevennes". The castle is currently undergoing renovation, a project linked to the development of the Cevennes via the Unesco World Heritage.
- The castle of Sommières. The origin of the castle can not be fixed with precision. Its dating is estimated at the 10th or 11th century. The history of the city and the tower are closely linked to that of the house of Bermond of Anduze and Sauve. The castle initially included two towers. The second, similar to the one that remains, was destroyed during the first siege of the city in 1573. Louis XIII besieged the city a second time in 1629. The strategic importance of the castle came from its location overlooking the Roman bridge, the only crossing point on the Vidourle between the Cevennes and the sea. The castle was disused in 1809. The Bermond tower remains the great witness of the past.-
-The Fort Saint-André. Proudly standing on the Andaon mount, the Saint-André fort overlooks Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. Built by Philippe Le Bel in 1291 to assert the power of the Kingdom of France against the Empire and the Popes of Avignon, the fort also had to protect the town and its abbey. Impressive twin towers surround the gateway through which the building is accessed today. Impressive testimony of the military defensive architecture, we like to observe the crenels, loopholes, machicolations and watchtowers that animate this impregnable citadel.
-The Duchy of Uzès. Located in the heart of the city, the Duchy is an impressive construction whose military purpose is undeniable: the Bermonde Tower, a 12th century keep and the imposing ramparts flanked by corner towers are the most faithful witnesses. The remarkable Renaissance façade is an architectural jewel of the 16th century. From the extraordinary cellars, almost a thousand years old, to the intimacy of the furnished apartments to the splendid panorama from the top of the tower, the Duchy is astonishingly rich.
The towers and ramparts of Aigues-Mortes
Travelling through the Gard region involves a necessary stop in Aigues-Mortes. Aigues-Mortes is a town that was influenced by the reign of Louis IX (Saint-Louis), who decided to build a royal port to link up with the Mediterranean. This passage from the port to the sea, the "grau du roi", was used by the Crusaders to go and preach the good word and wage war in the Holy Land, during the seventh crusade of 1248. The construction of fortifications was decided in 1244, and the work was spread over fifty years. Today, these fortifications still make the spectrum of the Little Carcassonne in Camargue. Listed as a historical monument, the enclosure and its twenty towers offer passers-by splendid views of the town, the ponds, the vineyards and the Salins du Midi
Religious architecture
The Gard has a very rich religious architectural heritage, as a sad legacy of the wars of religion that shook the inhabitants from 1550 to the French Revolution. Romanesque churches litter the town centres of Nîmes, Alès, Beaucaire, etc., alongside Protestant temples. It is true that under the Ancien Régime, the department had an ardent practice of denominations and their practitioners under orders fought to be able to worship in these religious places. It was also and above all an instrument of power and domination, the fact of being able to practice one's beliefs by inciting or convincing others to convert. The greater the number of believers in the community, the greater the influence of one of the two religions, Catholic or Protestant. Here are some religious sites
The Basilica of Notre-Dame and Saint-Castor in Nîmes
A Romanesque building from the 12th century, with a 40-metre high tower, it suffered the turpitudes of the Wars of Religion and was rebuilt twice in the 17th century. It is Romanesque, but the top floor is in Gothic style, reflecting the successive arrangement of different architectural styles over time. It has been elevated to the rank of basilica since 1882. The height of the vaults of the nave reaches 20 meters. Its main renovator, Henri Antoine Revoil, was responsible for restoring it to health in the 19th century.
The Sainte-Eugénie chapel in Nîmes
The Sainte-Eugénie chapel is a religious building of the city of Nîmes. It is impossible to date the exact year of construction, but a cartulary (a collection of copies in rolls specifying the goods and rights of a religious building to ensure its preservation) of the chapter of Nimes dating from 956 already mentions its existence. It allows to affirm that it is the oldest church in Nîmes still in activity.
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral in Alès
Built in the 17th century on the ruins of an old Carolingian church which had itself been built on the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple, it has a bell tower-porch whose campanile in the form of a spire dates from 1776. The nave is covered with vaults on a 20-metre high ribbed vaulting and the choir is surrounded by an imposing Louis XVI style colonnade. Since 9 May 1914, the building has been classified as a historical monument. The organ was destroyed by the Wars of Religion around 1622, but was rebuilt in 1729. This majestic site contrasts with the hasty reconstruction of the old Alès in the 1960s: the modern residential buildings that replaced the old town were built without any conception of the conservation of the heritage and the homogeneity of the ancestral districts.
The temple of Alès
Built between 1864 and 1868 by Henri Revoil (1822-1900), this temple, inaugurated on December 3, 1868, replaces the former chapel of the Penitents, which had become too small to accommodate the faithful (this chapel, which became national property during the Revolution, was purchased on October 14, 1792 by the Protestants of Alès, who were only too happy to acquire this building, which occupied the very place where their forefathers had benefited from their own temple). This new neo-Romanesque building stands out from the other temples in the region because of its decorative research, its remarkable sculptures, its stained glass windows by a master glass artist from Avignon and its furniture.
Classified sites, Villages of character, Most Beautiful Villages in France...
The Gard is distinguished by a myriad of sites, properties, towns and villages, landscapes recognized for their historical, environmental and cultural value of the highest order. Thus the Gard is:
Three sites listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO: the Pont du Gard, the wide open spaces of the Causses and Cévennes, the Abbey of Saint-Gilles on the Pilgrimage Route to Santiago de Compostela.
Three Great Sites of France: the Cirque de Navacelles, the Pont du Gard and the Gorges du Gardon, the Camargue gardoise.
Four Great Sites of Occitania: Cirque de Navacelles - Lodève - Pays viganais, Aigues-Mortes Camargue gardoise, Nîmes-Pont du Gard-Uzès, Cévennes.
Four Most Beautiful Villages in France: Aiguèze, La Roque-sur-Cèze, Lussan, Montclus.
Six villages of character: Aumessas, Barjac, Dourbies, Lussan, Sauve, Vézénobres.
Eight Remarkable Heritage Sites: Aigues-Mortes, Beaucaire, Nîmes, Pont-Saint-Esprit, Saint-Gilles, Sommières, Uzès, Villeneuve-lez-Avignon.
Three Cities and Lands of Art and History: Beaucaire, Nîmes, Uzès.
Three Cities and Crafts: Beaucaire, Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie, Sauve.
Two Small Cities of Character: Sommières, Vénéjan.
Three Biosphere Reserves: the Gorges du Gardon, the Cévennes, the Camargue.
An International Starry Sky Reserve: the Cévennes National Park
Aiguèze, Lussan, La Roque-sur-Cèze, Montclus, four Most Beautiful Villages in France
The Gard has four "Most Beautiful Villages in France". All of them are medieval villages perched on the top of a hill, typical of the region. Dungeons, ancient castles, ramparts, steep cobbled streets characterize them. Aiguèze overlooks the Ardèche and offers a splendid view of its gorges. Lussan, the most recent (it was classified as one of the "Most Beautiful Villages in France" in 2016), dominates the garrigue; its covered way offers a breathtaking panorama as far as the Ventoux and the Cévennes. Montclus and La Roque-sur-Cèze both overlook the Cèze. Montclus offers a room of a Benedictine monastery troglodytic visit. As for La Roque-sur-Cèze, if its castle cannot be visited, you will have the leisure to discover the beautiful but dangerous waterfalls of Sautadet.
