Aups (;

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 ...

oc, Aups in the classical norm, ''Aup'' in the Mistralian norm, )However, after the preposition ''a ~ à'' 'to', the forms are ''as Aups ~ à-z-Aup'' and are pronounced is a commune in the Var department in the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its prefe ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in southeastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Geography

Located in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...

at 500m alt, Aups is in the first foothills of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

. The town is at the gates of Verdon River, at 60 km from the sea and 80 km from the snow stations.
Aups is named ''Capital of Haut-Var'' and ''Capital of the

truffle A truffle is the Sporocarp (veggie), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. In addition to ''Tuber'', many other genera of fungi are classified as truf ...

'' and was made a part of the ''Parc naturel régional du Verdon'' in 2000. Its typically Mediterranean climate makes the village a healthy place to live.

Climate

Aups has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Csa''). The average annual temperature in Aups is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Aups was on 28 June 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 30 December 2005.

History

The village was named ''Oppidum de Alpibus'' (town of the Alps) then ''Castrum de Alpibus'' (fortress of the Alps), ''castrum de Almis'', then ''Alps'' and now Aups. The place was colonized by the Oxybians (a Ligurian tribe) during the time of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

, near

Via Aurelia The ''Via Aurelia'' (Latin for "Aurelian Way") is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Cla ...

going from

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 54,458. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one urban agglomeration. The north ...

(''Forum Julii'') to Riez (''Forum Reii''). Julius Caesar visited Aups on his way to conquering

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only durin ...

. He is supposed to have said, « I would rather be the first man in Aups than the second in Rome ». In 1574, the town was looted by the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...

s, who massacred 18 residents. A statue called "Maiden of the Massacre" was erected on square where the massacre took place, in Clock Street.
Aups was the centre of the Var Republican insurgency in 1851 against the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

, and became known as the "Center of Red Var". Aups was a stronghold of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during World War II. The city earned the '' Croix de guerre avec palmes''. It was liberated by American forces on 17 August 1944, two days after the

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence ( Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, ...

landings to the south.

Tourism

Truffles

Aups has the third largest black truffle market of France, known for its quality and importance. This market is held every Thursday from November to February.

Provençal Market

There is a colourful Provençal market, every Wednesday and Saturday featuring local products and handicrafts.

People from Aups

* The

Blacas The House of Blacas is the name of two old French houses which successively owned the Lordship of Aups with its castle in Provence (whose name is still spelled in the ancient form ''Aulps'' in their surname). Blacas d'Aulps family The first Blacas ...

house - an old Provençal house, lords and dukes of Aups since the 12th century * Pierre Petit (1832–1909) - photographer * General Jean-Baptiste Girard (1775–1815) - Général and baron d'Empire who fought the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. *

Pierre Yovanovitch Pierre Yovanovitch (born 17 August 1965) is a French interior designer. He was born in Nice. Biography Yovanovitch’s career started in 1990. He worked with Pierre Cardin on the men’s fashion lines of the couture house, first in Brussels t ...

- Interior Designer - Chateau de Fabrègues - a 17th-century castle in Provence all renovated by the designer

References

Communes of Var (department) {{Var-geo-stub