Bouillargues (; oc, Bolhargues) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;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 southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It includes the hamlets of Garons, Caissargues and Rodilhan. It is situated to the southeast and close to the city of Nimes and in 2013 it had just over 6,000 residents.

Geography

Bouillargues is located just southeast of the city of Nimes, at the northern edge of the

Camargue Camargue (, also , , ; oc, label= Provençal, Camarga) is a region of France located south of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône delta. The eastern arm is called the ''Grand Rhône''; the western one is the ''P ...

and between two major highways, the N113 and the RD 135. The centre of Nimes is away, the airport is to the south,

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

is away,

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 ...

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The climate in Bouillargues is hot in summer and mild in winter. As of January 2013, there were just over 6,000 inhabitants of the town. The area was renowned for its production of

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

History

The suffix "-argues", common in the south of France, suggests that the town of Bouillargues has been in existence since antiquity. Originally called "Buliancius" after Bublius who owned property there, it was known as Bouillargues in 1706. In 1182, there was already a community consisting of four farms or estates."Bouillargues" in "Le Patrimoine de Nîmes Métropole"
. Retrieved 11 October 2013. The sixteenth century saw turbulent times in the area during the

French wars of religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

. The Catholics revolted in 1572 and the town changed hands several times, with the church being destroyed and then rebuilt. In 1654, 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 Be ...

s built a temple but this was ordered to be demolished in 1663. By 1737, Joseph de Louet, Baron de Manduel had subjugated the village and his place was later taken by François Hercule Massip. In 1790, Bouillargues became a commune, and later the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s of Garons, Caissargues and Rodilhan were annexed."Un peu d'histoire"
, Bouillargues. Retrieved 10 October 2013.

Landmarks

St Felix Church (''Église St Félix'') was built around 1156 but was damaged along with the rest of the village during the Albigensian Wars in 1167. It was completely destroyed during the wars between the Protestants and the Catholics but was rebuilt in 1654, enlarged in 1843 and completed in 1890. It houses an 18th-century wooden statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

bearing the infant Jesus. The present town hall is housed in the Château de Bouillargues which was purchased for the commune in 1957. After the completion of renovation work, the new town hall was inaugurated in 1978. The first floor houses the mayor's office and a meeting room for the local council, while the local administration has offices on the ground floor. The town hall is at the centre of a well-maintained park with old

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

s and flower beds. The village bullring, ''Les Arènes André Dupuis'', is named after the mayor of Bouillargues who died weeks before it was inaugurated in 2010. Collège Les Fontaines, founded in 1970, lies in the eastern part of the town.

Population

Personalities

Jacques de Baroncelli Jacques de Baroncelli (25 June 1881 – 12 January 1951) was a French film director best known for his silent films from 1915 to the late 1930s. He came from a Florence, Florentine family who had settled in Provence in the 15th century, occupying ...

(1881–1951) – filmmaker *

Madeleine Brès Madeleine Alexandrine Brès (born on 26 November 1842 at Bouillarges – 30 November 1921 in Montrouge), born Gebelin, was the first French woman to obtain a medical degree in 1875 after her thesis presentation on the topic of breastfeeding an ...

(1842–1921) – first woman to have obtained a medical license in France * Roger Gal (1906–1966) – pedagogue * Michel Pons (1864–1934) – railway official and restaurateur

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

The Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail, which passes through Bouillargues.
{{authority control Communes of Gard