Apta Julia
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Apt (;
Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...
Occitan: ''At / Ate'' in both classical and Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Vaucluse
department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It lies on the left bank of the
Calavon The Calavon (french: le Calavon, also called ''le Coulon'') is an long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse ''départements'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. It is the principal town of the Luberon mountains. The town is known for defining the
Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...
age of the
Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145  Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...
.


Geography

Apt lies north of
Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
and the river
Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Calavon The Calavon (french: le Calavon, also called ''le Coulon'') is an long river in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Vaucluse ''départements'', southeastern France. Its drainage basin is .Luberon mountain.


Geological age

Apt is the etymological source of the
Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...
, an age in the
geologic timescale The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronol ...
, a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), approximately. The original
type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...
is in the vicinity of Apt. The Aptian was introduced in scientific literature by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1840.


History

Apt was at one time the chief town of the Vulgientes, a Gallic tribe; it was destroyed by the Romans about 125 BC and restored by
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
, who conferred upon it the title ''Apta Julia''; it was much injured by the Lombards and the Saracens, but its fortifications were rebuilt by the counts of Provence. A traditional tale attributes the foundation of the bishopric of Apt to a saint named Auspicus, whom
Pope Clement I Pope Clement I ( la, Clemens Romanus; Greek: grc, Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Klēmēs Rōmēs) ( – 99 AD) was bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is listed by Irenaeus and Tertullian as the bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 AD t ...
sent and who died a martyr in 102; but the first documented evidence of its existence is in the acts of the Synod of Arles of 314, at which Apt was represented by a priest and an exorcist. Early 5th-century bishop Saint Castor of Apt is mentioned in contemporary liturgical documents and in a 419 letter of Pope Boniface I. The diocese appears in documents of the same century as a
suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of Aix. As a result of the concordat of 15 July 1801 between
Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...
and
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, the territory of the diocese was incorporated by the bull ''Qui Christi Domini'' of 29 November of the same year mainly into the archdiocese of Avignon, with some parishes going instead to the diocese of Digne. No longer a residential bishopric, Apta (as it is called in Latin) is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. Important manuscripts were found in Apt concerning music in the 12th/13th centuries. They are known as the Apt Manuscript and the Ivrea Codex. They contain motets and mass movements, all of which are polyphonic. Nine out of fourteen Motets by Philippe de Vitry are recorded in the Ivrea Codex, a compilation of eighty-one compositions dating to 1360. It is purported to have been derived from the repertoire used in the Papal Palace at
Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
, since it is so close and offers a sampling of music from the Ars Nova movement.


Jewish history

According to documentation, Jews lived in Apt as early as the second half of the 14th century. The earliest documentation of Jews in Apt is dated back to the second half of the 13th century, describing the prohibition of meat selling by Jews to Christians. Columbia University Library owns a twelve documents collection of notarial written money lending transactions between Jews and Christians in Apt
One of them
describes a transaction between a local Jew called Gartus Bonafossi and a Christian named Iohannes Raymundi. A
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
was documented as soon as 1416, and around 15 Jewish families were listed by the tax register by 1420. By then, Apt became the fourth largest Jewish community of Provence. The Jewish quarter was situated by the nowadays Place du Postel, and the community itself was mentioned in the writings of the poet
Isaac Gorni Isaac Gorni (or Isaac ben Abraham haGorni) was a late thirteenth-century Hebrew lyric poet from Aire-sur-l'Adour in Gascony, then ruled by the English Prince Edward.Paden and Paden (2007), 235–37. Isaac probably left Gascony before the Jews were ...
.


Ecclesiastical history

The council of Apt was held on 14 May 1365 in the cathedral of that city by the archbishops and bishops of the provinces of Arles, Embrun and
Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
, in the south of France. Twenty-eight decrees were published and eleven days of indulgence were granted to those who would visit with pious sentiments the church of the Blessed Virgin in the Diocese of Apt on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and venerate there certain relics of the Cross.


Population


Sights

The chief object of interest is the church of Sainte-Anne (once the cathedral), the building of which was begun about the year 1056 on the site of a much older edifice, but not completed until the latter half of the 17th century. The town was formerly surrounded by massive ancient walls, but these have now been for the most part replaced by boulevards; many of its streets are narrow and irregular. Many Roman remains have been found in and near the town. A fine bridge, the Pont Julien, spanning the Coulon below the town, dates from 2 BC. Archeologists and others now believe that the Pont Julien dates much later than the 2nd century


Economy

The region is a centre for wine,
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, truffles, and fruit, much of which is converted to
crystallized fruit Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type o ...
by both industrial and handmade processes.


Twin towns – sister cities

Apt is
twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with: * Bakel, Senegal * Boussu, Belgium * Thiene, Italy


See also

* Côtes du Luberon AOC * Communes of the Vaucluse department


References


Sources

* *MANSI, Coll. Conc., XXVI, 445; MARTÈNE, Thes. nov. anecd. (1717), IV, 331-342; BOZE, Hist. de l'église d'Apt (Apt. 1820) {{authority control Communes of Vaucluse Subprefectures in France