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 in southern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
It lies close to
Alès
Alès () is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Until 1926, i ...
and
Saint-Jean-du-Gard
Saint-Jean-du-Gard () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
History
This city of the Cévennes, first mentioned in a 12th-century papal bull (''San Johannis de Gardonnenca cum villa''), was very much influenced by Protestant ...
.
The commune includes the hamlet of Mas Soubeyran, centre of the Protestant resistance during the 16th century. It houses the
Musée du Désert
Le Musée du Désert is a museum dedicated to the history of Protestantism in France, particularly in the Cévennes. Its name refers to the ''Désert (Protestantism), Désert'', the period between the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the Edict ...
, dedicated to the history of
Protestantism in France
Protestantism in France has existed in its various forms, starting with Calvinism and Lutheranism since the Protestant Reformation. John Calvin was a Frenchman, as were numerous other Protestant Reformers including William Farel, Pierre Viret ...
.
History
The town's entire population was expelled by French troops on 1 April 1703, during the War of the Camisards.
Population
Sights
* Bridge, the ''Pont des camisards''
* Mas Soubeyran, known for its annual Protestant gatherings
Notable residents
Rolland, or Rolland Laporte, from his real name Pierre Laporte, born 3 January 1680, died 14 April 1704, was a
Camisard
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 Revocati ...
chief in the
Cévennes
The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...
, nicknamed ''«le Général des enfants de Dieu»'' (general of the children of God). His birth house is now the Musée du Désert.