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, ...
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 ...
, dating back to February 9 934, noted for the first time the existence of a castrum named ''Geminas'' at the entry of the Saint Pons valley.
In 1204, the bishop of Marseilles ''Rainier'' founded the
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
abbey of Saint Pons.
Around the 15th century, Geminas was deserted.
In 1563 the Marquis d'Albertas Nicolas and his brother Gaspard, both of Italian origin, acquired the
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
of Gémenos, leading to the development of Gémenos as it is known today.