Pouzilhac (; oc, Posilhac) is a French

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 department in southern

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 area ...

, formerly

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

Geography

Pouzilhac is situated on the right bank of the Rhone next to the route national 86 and its close access to the A7 motorway (Remoulins, Tavel, Bollène). The commune covers 16 km² and has 733 inhabitants since the last population census in 2018. Surrounded by the municipalities of Valliguières, La Capelle-et-Masmolène and Saint-Paul-les-Fonts, Pouzilhac is located 14 km southwest of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, the largest city in the area. Located at 218 meters above sea level, the Ragouse is the main waterway that crosses the town of Pouzilhac.

History

The oldest occupation of the site dates back to the Bronze Age, around 2500 B.C. The Romans left many traces of their occupation, an inscription in the masonry of the church testifies to the existence of a "villa". During the medieval period, since the 11th century, a castrum existed, first mentioned in 1121 as ''Castrum de Posilhac''.Eugène Germer-Durand, 'Dictionnaire topographique du département du Gard'', Imprimerie impériale, Paris, 1868 In 1176 it appeared as ''Villa de Posiliaco'' In 1258, the municipal archives of Valliguières mention it as 'Posillanum' and in 1355 as 'Posilhacum'. A Posillac took part in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

alongside the

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surroundin ...

. It was during the religious wars in Europe in 1662 that the community took strategic importance with the construction of fortifications, and experienced a demographic progression. Pouzilhac belonged to the

viguerie In Southern France, a ''viguerie'' (; la, vicaria) was a mediaeval administrative court. A ''viguerie'' is named for the place it serves or is found in, that is, the main town of the borough, which need not be its (administrative capital). Appear ...

of Roquemaure, a viguerie of the

diocese of Uzès In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

which included fourteen villages: Les Essarts, Lirac, Montfaucon, Pujaut,

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

, Roquemaure, Saint-Geniès-de-comolas, Saint-Hilaire-d'Ozilhan,

Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres (; oc, Sent Laurenç deis Aubres) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of ...

, Sauveterre,

Saze Saze (; oc, Sase) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 351 communes of the Gard department of France. The communes cooperate in the following ...

Tavel Tavel may refer to: Places * Tavel, Gard, a commune in France * Tavel AOC, a French wine ''appellation'' from the town of Tavel * Tafers (french: Tavel, link=no), a municipality in Switzerland People * Connie Tavel Connie Tavel is an Ameri ...

, and Valliguières. The 12 th century chapel of Saint-Privat de Pouzilhac appears under the name 'Priory Sainct-Privat de Pouzilhac' in 1620. The chapel occupies a site located along the ancient Roman road linking Nîmes to

Alba Augusta Alba-la-Romaine (; oc, Aps) is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Albains'' or ''Albaines'' Geography ''Alba-la-Romaine'' is located some ...

, on which ancient inscriptions and epitaphs have been discovered.Michel Provost, ''Carte archéologique de la Gaule (30/2 GARD)'', Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 1999.

Population

Sights

There is the Château de Pouzilhac and the Église Saint- Privat de Pouzilhac, (both private property) as well as the Chapelle Saint-Privat de Pouzilhac. There are also 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within a radius of 30 km around Pouzilhac: Nimes, Orange, Avignon and Pont du Gard.