Calvisson (;
Provençal: ''Cauviçon'') 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 the
Occitanie Occitanie may refer to:
*Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French
*Occitania (administrative region)
Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...
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 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 lies between
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...
,
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 ...
, the
Cevennes and 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 has a strong
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
history.
Geography
Calvisson is a commune in
Gard
Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;[Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...]
. It is in the northern foothills of the Vaunage, a fertile valley surrounded by a rim of limestone hills rising to 200 m. The most prominent hill is the Rock of Gachone, which was the site of an important
oppidum
An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
, or a fortified town, under the Romans. The natural vegetation is classic
garrigue
Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( el, φρύγανα , n. pl.), is a type of low scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
It is found on limestone soils in southern Fra ...
; today the valley is used for vineyards and horticulture. A tiny stream, the Escattes, flows through the villag
Calvisson also includes the hamlets of Sinsans and Bizac.
History
The site is known to have been settled since the
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
transition (4300–3200 BC)
In 1060, at the time of the domination of
Counts de Toulouse, the name Calvisson appears for the first time. At the time, it was a fortified town surmounted by two towers which covered 2000 m
2. This fortified town controlled all of the
Vaunage
The Vaunage is an area of southern France made up of the plain and the small hills around Nages, which is known for its Gallic oppidum. The Vaunage area is located between Languedoc and Provence and between Sommières and Nîmes. It is north of ...
. In 1304 King
Philip IV of France
Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 12 ...
gave to
Guillaume de Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret (1260 13 April 1313) was a French wiktionary:Statesman, statesman, councillor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France.
Early life
Nogaret was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Haute-Garonne. The family held a small ...
as a fiefdom.
From the 16th century, with the beginnings of
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
, Calvisson was divided by the
wars of religion
A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
. The village becomes a centre of
protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
ism. In 1681, the Catholic
King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
, used his troops to re-convert Protestants. On 30 June 1685, being Protestant became illegal in Nîmes. The religion moved underground, the paid pastor was replaced by the lay ''prophet''. The wars slowly destroyed the castle which, by the middle of the 17th century is used as stone quarry.
The
Camisards
Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...
operated throughout the mainly protestant Cévennes region which in the early years of the eighteenth century also included the Vaunage and the parts 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 ...
around
Aigues Mortes
Aigues-Mortes (; oc, Aigas Mòrtas) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved. Situated on the junction of the Canal du Rhône à Sète a ...
. In 1701, the village was a protestant stronghold which was occupied and then, in 1704, used as a base for the royalist troops in the battle of
Nages against the protestant forces of
Jean Cavalier
Jean Cavalier (28 November 1681 – 17 May 1740), was the Huguenot chief of the Camisards. He was born at Mas Roux, a small hamlet in the commune of Ribaute near Anduze, southern France.
Early life
His father, an illiterate peasant, had been ...
the ''prophet'' and military leader.
In 1787, the Rock of Gachone which stands above the village is used as triangulation point by
Jean-Dominique Cassini for mapping the area.
Population
Sights
* The church of St Saturnin is 12th-century
Romanesque and 15th-century
Provençal Gothic
* the Temple is 19th-century neo-classical.
* the Rock of Gachone rises over the village to the west. There were four
windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
s there, three have been partially restored.
* The beginning of the 21st century saw the old railway transformed into
Voie Verte- that is a metalled cycleway through the
Vaunage
The Vaunage is an area of southern France made up of the plain and the small hills around Nages, which is known for its Gallic oppidum. The Vaunage area is located between Languedoc and Provence and between Sommières and Nîmes. It is north of ...
: from
Caveirac
Caveirac (; oc, Cavairac) is a commune and a village in the Gard department in southern France. It is located west of Nîmes and is the first village in the Vaunage reached when travelling from Nîmes. Its early history is unclear but it wa ...
, through Calvisson and
Congénies
Congénies (; oc, Congènhas) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
It is situated between Nîmes, Montpellier, the Cévennes and the Camargue and has a strong Quaker history. Congénies possesses the only and oldest purpose ...
to
Junas and
Sommières
Sommières (; oc, Someire) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France, located at the border with the Hérault department.
It lies from Nîmes, from Montpellier.
Geography
Sommières is to the south of the garrigues and on th ...
. This is used by horses, cycles, and pedestrians. The two major roads on the route are avoided by means of bespoke tunnels.
* Three of the four windmills for which it was known have been restored.
Events
Bull running happens in Calvisson, according to the Carmargues tradition, where no bull gets hurt. The annual event takes place around 20 July over a period of five days. There are four events, the
Abrivado where over ten bulls are run together through the street guided by a group of twelve 'guardians' mounted on white Camargues horses, an
Encierro
A running of the bulls ( es, encierro, from the verb ''encerrar'', 'to corral, to enclose'; oc, abrivado, literally 'haste, momentum'; ca, correbous, 'run-bulls') is an event that involves running in front of a small group of bulls, typicall ...
where one bull is released outside the foyer and finds his own way back to the pen, the Bandido where one bull is run accompanied through the streets, and the
Bandido de nuit which is the same thing but after dark. Boys and men run with the bulls and try and separate them from the horses, stop them, and physically turn them away from the horses.
Notable people
*
Jean Cavalier
Jean Cavalier (28 November 1681 – 17 May 1740), was the Huguenot chief of the Camisards. He was born at Mas Roux, a small hamlet in the commune of Ribaute near Anduze, southern France.
Early life
His father, an illiterate peasant, had been ...
*
Guillaume de Nogaret
Guillaume de Nogaret (1260 13 April 1313) was a French wiktionary:Statesman, statesman, councillor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France.
Early life
Nogaret was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Haute-Garonne. The family held a small ...
*
Hubert Rouger
See also
*
Communes of the Gard department
This is a list of the 351 Communes of France, communes of the Gard Departments of France, department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities (as of 2020):
References
External links
English description on the Languedoc PageCalvisson on the site of Gerard Verhoest Leisure activities in Calvisson
{{authority control
Communes of Gard