Roquemaure (; ;

Provençal Provençal may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Provence, a region of France ** Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France ** ''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language * Provenca ...

: ''Recamaulo'') is a small town and commune 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 of 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 ...

. The town lies north of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

on the right bank of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

. In 2017 the commune had a population of 5,481. Roquemaure was the site of a royal castle during the medieval period but after the French Revolution the castle was dismantled and now only two towers remain. In the 18th century Roquemaure was the centre of attempts to regulate the production of wine in the area and the term "Côte du Rhône" was coined. The town is infamous as the site where

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

, a pest of grapevines, was introduced into France from North America via England in the 1860s. Viticulture is still an important activity in the commune. Several types of wine are produced including some classified as Côtes du Rhône Appellation d'origine contrôlée.

Geography

Roquemaure lies on the right (west) bank of the

, at the eastern end of a narrow limestone ridge, the Montagne de Saint Geniès, that rises abruptly from the flat alluvial plain and extends for in an east-west direction. The town is north of

, south-southeast of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and west of

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The village lies about to the east of the Rhône and north of the town of Avignon. A ruined medieval castle s ...

which lies on the other side of the Rhône. The town is the administrative centre (''

chef-lieu An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

'') of the canton of Roquemaure, one of 23 cantons of the Gard department. The canton consists of eleven communes: Codolet,

Laudun-l'Ardoise Laudun-l'Ardoise (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. It is located on the departmental border with Va ...

, Lirac, Montfaucon, Roquemaure,

Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 350 communes of the Gard department of France. The communes cooperate in ...

, Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres,

Saint-Paul-les-Fonts Saint-Paul-les-Fonts (; Provençal: ''Sent Pau dei Fònts'') is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 350 communes of the Gard department of Fr ...

Saint-Victor-la-Coste Saint-Victor-la-Coste (; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Sent Victor de la Còsta'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Re ...

, Sauveterre and Tavel.

Toponym

The name ''Roquemaure'' is believed to be derived from the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

''ròca'' (rock) + ''maura'' (feminine adjective black). Early Latin manuscripts use a variety of spellings for the name of the town. In 1539 the

Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (, ) is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, 1539, in the city of Villers-Cotterêts and the oldest French legislation still used partly by French court ...

specified that French was to be used in official documents. The current French spelling is used in a manuscript dating from 1550.

History

Hannibal

In 218 BC, at the start of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

crossed the Rhône with his army and

war elephant A war elephant is an elephant that is Animal training, trained and guided by humans for combat purposes. Historically, the war elephant's main use was to charge (warfare), charge the enemy, break their ranks, and instill terror and fear. Elep ...

s in his journey from the Iberian peninsula to northern Italy. The classical historians

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

and

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

each provide accounts of the journey, but the exact route has been the source of much scholarly debate. Roquemaure is one of several locations that have been proposed for the crossing.

Gallo-Roman villa

Archaeological excavations undertaken in 1996 ahead of the construction of a new high speed railway line (

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

) uncovered the remains of a Gallo-Roman villa and 35 burials at a site northwest of the town, just to the south of the Roc de Peillet, a small limestone outcrop on the old alluvial terrace of the Rhône called Les Ramières. The earliest finds date from the Augustan period (63 BC-14 AD). The site was abandoned during the 7th century.

Roquemaure castle

In the medieval period Roquemaure was the site of an important castle that stood on a limestone outcrop in the Rhône. The surviving ruins include two towers, the Square Tower (''Tour carrée'') and the Round Tower (''Tour ronde'') that date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Next to the Round Tower are the remains of a toll collector's house that dates from the same period. The ruins are currently privately owned. On the opposite bank of the Rhône is a similar limestone outcrop on which sits the ruins of another medieval castle, the

Château de l'Hers The origins of the Château de l'Hers, in Châteauneuf-du-Pape on the banks of the Rhône, go back to the beginning of the 10th century. Until the French Revolution it was an enclave and exclave, enclave of Languedoc in the Comtat Venaissin. Protect ...

. In the Middle Ages the Rhône was somewhat wider at this point than it is today and both castles sat on islands within the river. The first written record of the Roquemaure castle dates from 1209, on eve of the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...

. The castle at the time was controlled by

Raymond VI of Toulouse Raymond VI (; 27 October 1156 – 2 August 1222) was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also Count of Melgueil (as Raymond IV) from 1173 to 1190. Early life Raymond was born at Saint-Gilles, Gard, the son of ...

but on being accused by

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

of sheltering heretics, he agreed to donate seven castles, including that of Roquemaure (''castrum de Roccamaura''), to the

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

in Avignon. A document from four years later (1213) mentions a tower and a cistern. The tower is almost certainly the existing Square Tower that dominates the ruins. In 1229 the castle was acquired by the French king,

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis ...

, in the Treaty of Paris. There are no surviving 13th century documents that give details on the construction of the castle but it is clear from records of the money spent on maintenance that by the beginning of the 14th century the castle included a curtain wall crowned with a parapet that sheltered a number of houses as well as an oven, a large well, a garden containing a second well, a chapel and prisons. The castle occupied an important position on the border of the territory ruled by the French crown, as at the time, the papacy controlled the

Comtat Venaissin The (; ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791, in what is now the region of Southern France. The region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France, comprising the area aroun ...

on the opposite bank of the Rhône. During the 14th and 15th centuries the castle was the only residence with suitable accommodation for high-ranking dignitaries near the river between

Pont-Saint-Esprit Pont-Saint-Esprit (, literally "Holy Spirit Bridge"; ) is a commune in the Gard département in southern France. It is situated on the river Rhône and is the site of a historical crossing, hence its name. The Ardèche flows into the Rhône, jus ...

and Beaucaire; the

Fort Saint-André A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

and the Tour Philippe-le -Bel in

Villeneuve-lès-Avignon Villeneuve-lès-Avignon (; Provençal: ''Vilanòva d’Avinhon'') is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It can also be spelled ''Villeneuve-lez-Avignon''. History In the 6th century the Benedictine abbey of St André was fou ...

served only a military function. During this period Roquemaure castle hosted a series of important guests. In 1314,

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V (; – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his death, in April 1314. He is reme ...

, the first pope to be based in Avignon, died at the castle when travelling from Châteauneuf-du-Pape to his birthplace in

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

. Later in the 14th century,

Louis I, Duke of Anjou Louis I, Duke of Anjou (23 July 1339 – 20 September 1384) was a French prince, the second son of John II of France and Bonne of Bohemia. His career was markedly unsuccessful. Born at the Château de Vincennes, Louis was the first of the A ...

was a frequent visitor. He was the second son of

John II of France John II (; 26 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: ''Jean le Bon''), was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed between a thir ...

and brother of

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (; ), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War as his armies recovered much of the terri ...

. He used the castle as a base for his negotiations with the popes in Avignon. In 1385

John, Duke of Berry John of Berry or John the Magnificent (French language, French: ''Jean de Berry'', ; 30 November 1340 – 15 June 1416) was Duke of Berry and Rulers of Auvergne, Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. His brothers were King Charles ...

entertained a Hungarian ambassador at the castle while four years later in 1389 Charles VI stayed with a large entourage. Then in 1420 his son Charles

Dauphin of Viennois The counts of Albon () were members of the medieval nobility in what is now south-eastern France. Guigues IV, Count of Albon (d. 1142) was nicknamed or 'the Dolphin'. His nickname morphed into a title among his successors. By 1293, the lands ...

visited the castle. He would become

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...

on his father's death in 1422. Although regularly maintained in this period, the castle gradually ceased to have its earlier importance. In 1590-1591 during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

the castle came under siege and parts of towers and walls were destroyed. Subsequently,

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

failed to maintain the building and it fell into a state of disrepair. At the beginning of the 18th century, the arm of the Rhône flowing between the castle and the right bank silted up so that instead of sitting on an island the castle now stood on the bank of the river near the town. After the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

, the ruined castle was sold off in lots and used as a source of stone for other buildings. A plan dating from 1752 shows that the castle was entirely constructed on the limestone outcrop. The fortifications included seven round towers of which only the most northerly tower survives. The remaining square tower is in height and in width. On the limestone base it rises above the town.

Port on the Rhône

At least from the middle of the 17th century, and probably much earlier, the port was situated to the west of the castle at a position near the present car park and the Cave Granier in the l'Escatillon district of the town. During the 18th century the river deposited silt around the Île de Méimart which increased in size and eventually blocked access to the port. In the 19th century attempts were made to construct a new port just to the north of the Square Tower but the build-up of silt limited the depth of water..

Flooding of the town

Roquemaure was vulnerable to flooding by the Rhône and on the southern wall of the church there are marks recording the height of the water in the major floods of 1755 and 1840 when most of the town would have been under more than one meter of water. There was another very destructive flood in May–June 1856. In 1860 the French state agreed to pay two thirds of the cost of the construction of a dyke to protect the town. The dyke began at the Colline Saint-Jean and followed the river south to the village of Sauveterre. It protected the town during the severe flooding of 1935. After World War II the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône began canalizing the river. The section near Roquemaure was completed in the early 1970s.

Bridge across the Rhône

In 1835 work began on the construction of a suspension bridge over the Rhône at Roquemaure. At the time there was no bridge across the river between Avignon and

. The bridge was destroyed by American aircraft in August 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A

chain ferry A cable ferry (including the types chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

was then operated across the river until 1959 when the current bridge was opened.

Railway station

The railway station in Roquemaure was opened in August 1880 on the line running between

Le Teil Le Teil () is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. The writer Romain Roussel (1898–1973) winner of the Prix Interallié in 1937 was born in Le Teil. Population Geography An earthquake damaged numerous buildings and i ...

and Grézan-

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

on the right bank of the Rhône. The station closed in August 1973 when passenger transport on the line ceased. The line has since been electrified and is now used for freight.

Church

Jordanus Bricius from Germer-Durand 1876

The

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

of Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Jean-l'Evangéliste dates from the first half of the 14th century. It was built in the southern gothic style (''gothique méridional'') and replaced an earlier church dedicated to Sainte-Marie. The construction of the present church was initiated by Bertrand du Pouget, a powerful figure in the church hierarchy in the early period of the

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy (; ) was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire, now part of France) rather than in Rome (now the capital of ...

. He was appointed as the cardinal priest of San Marcello by Pope Jean XXII in 1316 and the cardinal bishop of

Ostia e Velletri The Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia is an ecclesiastical territory located within the Metropolitan City of Rome in Italy. It is one of the seven suburbicarian dioceses. The incumbent bishop is Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. For cen ...

in 1327. In 1345

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI (; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1 ...

authorised the transfer of the parish services from Sainte-Marie to the new church and the establishment of a collegiate

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

consisting of ten priests and two canons. One of the canons was charged with the spiritual care of the congregation. The chapter was relatively wealthy as it inherited the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s of the earlier church and gained addition endowments from the founder. Originally the wooden roof was visible in the church but in the 19th century the timbers were replaced and the vaulting was added. The third chapel on the right hand side of the nave is the Chapel Saint-Jean which dates from the 15th century. In 1855 a marble slab was discovered under layers of whitewash in the wall. The slab has an engraving of a man and a Latin inscription around three sides; the slab is damaged and the inscription on the fourth side is missing. The text reads: "This is the tomb of the noble master ndprofessor of both laws, Lord Jordanus Bricius, Lord of the castles of Velaux and Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, who was chief judge of Provence, and had built..." Unfortunately the date which presumably would have been on the fourth side and is missing.

Velaux Velaux (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. It is near Coudoux and Ventabren. Velaux is an old Provençal village set on a hill overlooking the high plains of the inland west side of Aix. It is locate ...

and

Châteauneuf-le-Rouge Châteauneuf-le-Rouge (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône de ...

are communes in the department of the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

. The stone is now set into the nearby wall of the church. Jordanus Bricius, whose name is usual written in French as Jourdain Brice, was an important judge and legal scholar. He is believed to have died in either 1433 or 1439. The historian Eugène Germer-Durand when reporting the discovery of the slab suggested that his family name may have been Brès which in the

Provençal dialect Provençal (, , , ; or ) is a variety of Occitan, spoken by people in Provence and parts of Drôme and Gard. The term Provençal used to refer to the entire Occitan language, but more recently it has referred only to the variety of Occitan ...

is similar to the word for a type of trap used to catch birds. This could explain the crest on the slab which includes a small bird above three objects that could be traps. Jourdain Brès may have been born locally as the family name of Brès existed in the neighbouring village of

Laudun Laudun-l'Ardoise (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region in Southern France. It is located on the departmental border with Vaucluse, which is also the regional border with Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The commune name w ...

in the 17th century. The church contains an organ made in 1690 by the brothers Barthélémy and Honoré Julien from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. It was originally installed in the Couvent des Cordeliers in

but was moved to the church in Roquemaure in around 1820. The walnut casing dates from when the organ was moved. In the chapel to the right of the main altar is a casket containing some relics of

Saint Valentine Saint Valentine (; ) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is al ...

. These were extracted from the

catacomb Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

Saint Hippolytus In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Ortho ...

in Rome and given by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

to Maximilien Pichaud, a local dignitary. They were placed in the church in a ceremony led by Claude-Henri Plantier, the bishop of Nîmes, in October 1868.

Chapels

;Chapel of Saint-Agricol d'Albaret The ruins of the Chapel Saint-Agricol d'Albaret are southwest of the town next to the

A9 autoroute The A9 autoroute (''La Languedocienne''/''La Catalane'') is a motorway in Southern France. The road forms part of the European route E15, as does the A9 road (Scotland). The road runs between Orange and Perthus, in the Pyrénées-Orientales ...

. The chapel was once part of a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

belonging to the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Abbey of Saint-André in

. The word "Albaret" is the name of a small village that was served by the chapel in the Middle Ages. The earliest mention of the priory is when the

was donated to the bishop of Avignon sometime between 1104 and 1110. The bishop passed on the benefice to the Abbey of Saint-André. The records show that in 1845 the building was in a reasonable state of repair and that in 1881 a mass was celebrated in the chapel. The chapel has a semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

at the eastern end which is built of carefully laid stonework. The

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

is similarly well constructed except high up where rubble masonry is used. The two buttresses at the western end of the choir show evidence of having been modified. The walls of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, which now lacks a roof, are built with irregular blocks of stone. The western door, which is surmounted by a niche and an oculus, appear to date from the 17th century. The chapel must have once had a graveyard as excavations carried out in 1989 in an area to the southeast unearthed 22 burials dating from the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. The oldest parts of the chapel are in the early Romanesque style and probably date from the 11th century. The choir was reconstructed in the 12th century and then in the 17th century the building was restored and the murals added. ;Chapel of Saint-Sauveur in Truel The Chapel of Saint-Sauveur is in the hamlet of Truel which is south of the Roquemaure. This chapel was also once part of a priory belonging to the Abbey of Saint-André. It is now a private house. The chapel differs from others belonging to the abbey in having a more complex architecture and a plan in the form of a Latin cross. ;Chapel of Saint Joseph des Champs The Chapel of Saint Joseph des Champs is southwest of the town on the south side of the D976 to Tavel. Roman shards have been uncovered nearby suggesting that the chapel may have been built on the site of an earlier Roman building.

Population

In 1384 Roquemaure was the ''

'' of one of the 13 ''

viguerie In Southern France, a ''viguerie'' (; ) 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). Appearing during ...

s'' in the ''

sénéchaussée A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

'' of Beaucaire and Nîmes. It was the site of a royal castle and a large collegiate church with 10 priests. In spite of this, the village itself was very small with only 5

hearths A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, partial ...

. Within the Roquemaure ''viguerie'' Lirac had 3 hearths, Tavel 5, Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas 13 and Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres 30. Bagnols-sur-Cèze was the ''chef-lieu'' of a neighbouring ''viguerie'' and had 115 hearths. Four centuries later in 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, Roquemaure had 929 hearths and was similar in size to Bagnol which had 1085.

Wine

Winemaking was probably introduced into Rhône valley by Greek colonists around 600 BC.. Archaeological excavations carried out at La Ramière suggests that wine, or possibly olive oil, was being produced at the site in the second half of the 1st century AD.. The earliest written mention of viticulture in Roquemaure is by

Gervase of Tilbury Gervase of Tilbury (; 1150–1220) was an English canon lawyer, statesman and cleric. He enjoyed the favour of Henry II of England and later of Henry's grandson, Emperor Otto IV, for whom he wrote his best known work, the '' Otia Imperialia''. ...

in his

Otia Imperialia ''Otia Imperialia'' ("Recreation for an Emperor") is an early 13th-century encyclopedic work, the best known work of Gervase of Tilbury. It is an example of speculum literature. Also known as the "Book of Marvels", it primarily concerns the th ...

which was completed around 1214. An English translation of the Latin text is:

In the Rhône stands the castle of Roquemaure. They judge that the castle itself belongs to the empire, which has rights over the river, while its estate belongs to the kingdom of France, which owns the land-rights. On the estate of this castle there are vines which the people call ''brumestae'', producing good fat grapes. These vines flower and produce clusters of grapes as ordinary vines do, but then they cheat their husbandman's expectation: for when it comes to the feast of St John the Baptist
4 June Events Pre-1600 * 1411 – King Charles VI grants a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries. *1525 – 1525 Bayham Abbey riot; Villagers from Kent an ...
all the fruit vanishes, and nothing which might have grown into fruit is found on them.

The earliest mention of wine being exported from Roquemaure is in the accounts of the papal court in Avignon of

Innocent VI Pope Innocent VI (; 1282 – 12 September 1362), born Étienne Aubert, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 December 1352 to his death, in September 1362. He was the fifth Avignon pope and the only one with the ...

. In 1357 they record the purchase of 20 barrels from "Guillelmo Malrepacis", a local merchant. The port on the Rhône allowed wine produced in Roquemaure and the surrounding villages to be easily exported. In 1735 more than 8,000 barrels a year were being shipped from the port. The current law for the Côtes du Rhône Appellation d'origine contrôlée dates only from 1937, but there is a long history of attempts to regulate the quality of the wine from the region. In 1737 the Conseil d'Etat issued a royal decree on the production of wine in Roquemaure. It specified that neither wine nor harvested grapes could be brought into town from outside the area and to prevent wines from a poor vintage being passed off as coming from a better vintage, barrels of wine from Roquemaure and the surrounding villages had to be marked on one end using a hot iron, with the letters "CDR" for Côte du Rhône and the year. The surrounding villages were listed as Tavel, Lirac, Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres, Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas, Orsan,

Chusclan Chusclan () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Geography Climate Chusclan has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification ''Csa''). The average annual temperature in Chusclan is . The average annua ...

, Codolet and "others of high quality". The decree also suggested that it would help to prevent fraud if the barrels were marked with the name of the parish of origin. Another decree issued in the same year complained about the poor quality of the barrels used for the wine and specified that they should be manufactured in two standard sizes.

Phylloxera

Roquemaure is believed to be the site where

, an insect that attacks the roots of grapevines, was first introduced into France from North America. In 1862 a local wine merchant, Mr. Borty, received a case containing rooted American vines from a New York vine-grower, Mr. Carle. This case contained native grapevines, including 'Clinton', 'Post-Oak', and 'Emily'. Mr. Borty, planted these American vines in ten rows within his walled garden at 21 rue Longue (renamed rue Placide Cappeau). The following summer in a vineyard at the nearby village of

Pujaut Pujaut (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. The village is situated on the south side of a small hill overlooking a flat plain that once formed the bed of a lake. The lake was drained at the beginning of the 17th century ...

, a number of vines began to die. By 1864 Borty's own

Grenache Grenache (; ) or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry condi ...

and

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

vines were showing symptoms of phylloxera infection. All the vines in the neighbouring village of Pujaut were either dead or dying by 1865 and the initial infection had spread to the towns of

and St-Rémy. By the end of 1868 the whole of the lower

Rhône Valley The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea ( Gu ...

was infected and by 1890 phylloxera had spread across most of France.

Winemaking cooperative

The

winemaking cooperative A winemaking cooperative is an agricultural cooperative which is involved in winemaking, and which in a similar way to other cooperatives is owned by its members. The members in a winemaking cooperative are usually vineyard owners, who deliver gra ...

, "Les Vignerons de Roquemaure", was established in 1922 and in 2013 had 60 members who together cultivated of vineyard spread over nine different communes.. Roughly half the vineyards are classed as ''

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

'' (AOC) and the remainder as ''Indication Géographique Protégée'' (IGP).. The cooperative produces several types of wine or ''appellation'' with each ''appellation'' having an associated set of legal regulations.. The most restrictive ''appellation'' is for the ''cru'' or vintage wines that are labelled as " Tavel" or " Lirac". Tavel is a small village southwest of Roquemaure that produces grapes for rosé wines.. Lirac is a small village to the west of Roquemaure, but the wines labelled as "Lirac" come from grapes grown in of designated vineyards that are scattered over the four communes of Lirac, Roquemaure, Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres and Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas. AOC Lirac is produced by 44 winemakers and 5 different cooperatives including the cooperative in Roquemaure.. The cooperative in Roquemaure also produces a wine classified as " Côtes du Rhône Villages" with the village specified as

. Laudun is northwest of Roquemaure and is one of 18 villages in the "Côtes du Rhône Villages" ''appellation'' that is allowed to add the village name.. Wines with the Côtes du Rhône ''appellation'' are produced using grapes grown in vineyards designated as suitable.. Vineyards outside these "Côtes du Rhône" designated areas are used to produce wines classed as ''Indication Géographique Protégée''. The vineyards for ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' wines are planted with traditional grape varieties:

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

Mourvèdre Mourvèdre (; also known as Mataro or Monastrell) is a red wine grape variety grown in many regions around the world. It is found in the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla, Bullas and Yecla '' denominaciones de or ...

and

Carignan Carignan (; also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Medite ...

for red wines, Clairette,

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...

Grenache blanc Grenache blanc (; also known as garnatxa blanca in Catalonia) is a variety of white wine grape that is related to the red grape Grenache. It is mostly found in Rhône wine blends and in northeast Spain. Its wines are characterized by high alcohol ...

and

Bourboulenc Bourboulenc is a white wine grape variety primarily grown in southern France. The variety is found in the regions Southern Rhône, Provence and Languedoc. Bourboulenc is a late-ripening grape variety with tight bunches of large grapes, that can ...

for white wines. The proportions allowed of each variety are specified in the regulations for each ''appellation''. The regulations for red wines specify a minimum percentage of Grenache grapes of between 40 and 50 percent. For the ''Indication Géographique Protégée'' category a wider range of grape varieties are grown including "international" varieties such as

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

Cabernet-Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon ...

and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

Schools

There are three state schools in Roquemaure. The nursery school, L'École maternelle Francette Prade, is attended by around 200 children between the ages of three and six. The primary school, Jean Vilar and Albert Camus, is attended by 330 children between the ages of six and eleven while the secondary school, Collège Paul Valéry, is attended by 650 children up to the age of fifteen. Older children attend a ''

Lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

'' in one of the nearby towns to study for the ''

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

''. The nearest is the Lycée Jean Vilar in

Local events

A weekly market is held every Tuesday morning on the Place de la Marie. An annual festival ('' Fête Votive'') is held in the village around the 16 August, the feast day of

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

. A

travelling funfair A traveling carnival (American English), usually simply called a carnival, travelling funfair or travelling show (British English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chan ...

occupies the Place de la Pousterle, and local associations organise outdoor evening meals with live music. A popular event is the running of young bulls through the narrow streets of the town.

People

died in Roquemaure Castle in 1314. *

Jacques Bridaine Jacques Bridaine (21 March 1701, in Chusclan – 22 December 1767, in Roquemaure, Gard, Roquemaure) was a French Roman Catholic preacher. Biography Having completed his studies at the Jesuit college of Avignon, Bridaine entered the Sulpician Semina ...

, a Roman Catholic preacher, was born in

in 1701 and died in Roquemaure in 1767. * Louis Pierre de Cubières, a French naturalist, was born in Roquemaure in 1747 and died in 1821. * Michel de Cubières, a French writer and brother of Louis Pierre, was born in Roquemaure in 1752 and died in Paris in 1820. *

Placide Cappeau Placide Cappeau (25 October 1808 – 8 August 1877) was a French poet and the author of the poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (1847), set to music by Adolphe Adam and known in English as "O Holy Night" or "Cantique de Noël". Biography He was born ...

, (1808-1877) a French writer, was born and died in Roquemaure. He wrote ''Minuit, chrétiens'' (

O Holy Night "O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a sacred song about the night of the birth of Jesus Christ, described in the first verse as "the dear Saviour", and frequently performed as a Christmas carol. Based on the French-language poem ''Minuit, ch ...

) (1847), which was set to music by

Adolphe Adam Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and ''Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le post ...

. He also wrote a historic poem, ''Le Château de Roquemaure''.