Uzès (; ) is a 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 in the Occitanie

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

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 ...

. Uzès lies about north-northeast of

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 ...

, west 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 ...

, and southeast of

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 ...

History

Originally ''Ucetia'' or ''Eutica'' in Latin, Uzès was a small

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

,'' or administrative settlement. The town lies at the source of the

Alzon Alzon () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. The commune is located in the south of the Cévennes National Park, in the upper Vis river valley. Geography Climate Alzon has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classifica ...

river, at Fontaine d'Eure, from where a

Roman aqueduct The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported min ...

was built in the first century AD, to supply water to the city of

, away. The most famous stretch of the aqueduct is the Pont du Gard, now a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, which carried fresh water over splendid arches across the

Gardon The Gardon or Gard (Occitan language, Occitan and French language, French: ''Gardon, Gard'', , ) is a List of rivers of France, river in southern France. It is the namesake of the Departments of France, department of Gard. Several of its trib ...

river.

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

were apparently settled there as early as the 5th century.

Saint Ferréol Saint Ferréol may refer to: People *Ferréol and Ferjeux ( Ferreolus and Ferrutio), priest and deacon, martyrs and patrons of Besançon * Saint Ferréol of Uzès (died 581), bishop of Uzès Places Canada * Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Quebec ...

, Bishop of Uzès, was said to have admitted them to his table. Complaints were made of him to King

Childebert I Childebert I ( 496 – 13 December 558) was a Frankish King of the Merovingian dynasty, as third of the four sons of Clovis I who shared the kingdom of the Franks upon their father's death in 511. He was one of the sons of Saint Clo ...

for this issue, whereupon the bishop was required to turn against them, expelling those Jews from Uzès who would not convert to Christianity. After his death (581), many of the converts who had been baptised returned to Judaism. In 614 the Christian government expelled Jews from the region. In early 8th century, Uzès was a fortified ''civitas'' and bishopric under the Archbishop of Narbonne. During the Umayyad conquest of Gothic Septimania, Uzès became the northernmost stronghold of

Muslim Spain Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

circa 725. Charles Martel laid siege to the stronghold in 736, but it remained in Gothic-Andalusian hands up to 752. That year counts loyal to Ansemund of Nîmes ceded numerous of strongholds to the Frankish

Pepin the Short the Short (; ; ; – 24 September 768), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian to become king. Pepin was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude of H ...

. In 753 the stronghold rebelled against the Franks after Ansemund's assassination, but the uprising was suppressed and a Frankish trustee of Pepin imposed. In the 13th century, Uzès hosted a small community of Jewish scholars, as well as a community of

Cathar Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

Like many cloth-manufacturing centers (Uzès was known for its serges), residents of the city and the surrounding countryside had become strongly Protestant during the 16th century, and religious and class conflicts played out in the Wars of Religion. The Languedoc region suffered considerable violence: Protestants trashed and burned many of the city's churches. Only two have survived to the 21st century.

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

was reconstructed after the violence.

Ucetia

Ucetia is the name of a

in the Roman province of

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

. Its existence was recorded on a list of eleven other settlements on a

stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

(ancient Nemausus) on which its name appears as "VCETIAE". It was under the administration of Nemausus, to which it provided water via a

. Ucetia was also known as ''Castrum Uceciense'', which is in the ''Notitia'' of the Provinces of Gallia. In 2017, Roman

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s were discovered by accident during construction at a local high school, and represented material proof of Ucetia. The mosaics had depictions of animals such as a deer, an owl, an eagle, and bulls. These have been identified as "honor to the Roman gods". For many European cultures, deer represented deities of the woodlands, and the owl was a symbol of the goddess

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

. Together with the animals, decorations represented water, geometric shapes, colors, and patterns, including a design with ancient

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

-like elements. Ucetia was inhabited from at least the 1st century B.C. until the 7th century A.D.

Ucetia and Pont du Gard

Ucetia was known to have been a source of water carried via aqueduct to many communities, especially ancient Nemausus (Nîmes), which grew to a population of about 30,000. The aqueduct system included the Pont du Gard. Construction of the aqueduct led to a "classic Roman tragedy" of greed in the nearby cities and towns that affected Ucetia and other communities.

Second World War

From September 1940 to 9 November 1942, PC Cadix operated at Château des Fouzes near Uzès, in

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

. It was a cryptographer team organized by French major Gustave Bertrand, comprising 15 Polish men from the Polish Cipher Bureau, 9 Frenchmen and 7 Republican Spanish refugees. From there, they worked against

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

ciphers including the

Enigma machine The Enigma machine is a cipher device developed and used in the early- to mid-20th century to protect commercial, diplomatic, and military communication. It was employed extensively by Nazi Germany during World War II, in all branches of the W ...

Geography

Climate

Uzès has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Csa''). The average annual temperature in Uzès is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Uzès was on 28 June 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 2 March 2005.

Dukes of Uzès

The title of Duke of Uzès, in the Crussol family, is the premier title in the

peerage of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

, coming right after the princes of the blood. The title of seigneur d'Uzès is attested in a charter of 1088. After part of Languedoc was attached to royal demesne (1229), the lords' (and later dukes') military skill and fealty to the Crown propelled their rise through the nobility, until, after the treason of the last

Duke of Montmorency Duke of Montmorency was a title of French nobility that was created several times for members of the Montmorency family, who were lords of Montmorency, near Paris. History The first creation was in 1551 for Anne de Montmorency, Constable of ...

, beheaded in 1632, the title of First Duke of France fell to Uzès, who retain their stronghold in the center of town today, which has expanded round the 11th century ''Tour Bermond''. If France were a kingdom, it would be the job of the duke of Uzès to cry out, ''" Le Roi est mort. Vive le Roi!"'' at each state funeral, and defend the honour of the queen mother. Twenty-one dukes have been wounded or killed as hereditary Champion of France over the centuries.

Sights

The present-day city retains the trace of its walls as a circuit of boulevards. A Capuchin chapel, built in 1635 to house the mortal remains of the dukes, occupies the site of a 1st-century AD temple dedicated to the first Roman Emperor,

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

. There are monuments of the prestige of the former bishopric, once one of the most extensive of Languedoc, but extinguished at the Revolution, and private houses that witness the wealth that the textile trade brought in the 16th century. The town is also homes to three feudal towers, the Bermonde Tower (part of the '' château du Duché''), the Bishop Tower and the Royal Tower. Uzès Cathedral was destroyed in 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 ...

, rebuilt, and destroyed again in the 16th century Wars of Religion. Rebuilt again in the 17th century, it was stripped out during the French Revolution. The 11th century Romanesque ''Tour Fenestrelle'' ("Window Tower"), with its paired windows, is probably the most famous icon of the city. It was listed as a French Historical Monument in 1862. Uzès is locally famous for its Saturday market. The market offers local produce, but it also boasts textiles made in the region and many tourist delights.-
Delights of Uzes Market
'

Economy

Tourism is one of the key industrial sectors, alongside the local arts scene and wine making. The region has a long history in the production of

licorice Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...

. The German company

Haribo Haribo GmbH & Co. KG, doing business as Haribo ( , , ; stylized in all caps), is a German confectionery company founded by Hans Riegel Sr. It began in Kessenich (Bonn), Kessenich, Bonn, Germany. The name "Haribo" is a syllabic abbreviation forme ...

maintains a factory and museum in Uzès, which traces its roots back to the licorice factory Henri Lefont opened there in 1862. His company later merged with Ricqlès, and was then taken over by Haribo.

Population

Notable people

Firmin Abauzit Firmin Abauzit (11 November 167920 March 1767) was a French scholar who worked on physics, theology and philosophy, and served as librarian in Geneva ( Republic of Geneva) during his final 40 years. Abauzit is also notable for proofreading or cor ...

(1679–1767), scholar who worked on

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

* Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, Count de Brueys, (1753–1798), the French commander in the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; ) was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Abu Qir Bay, Aboukir Bay in Ottoman Egypt, Egypt between 1–3 August 1798. It was the climax of the Mediterranean ca ...

. * Oliver Bevan (2001–) English artist * Jérôme Cintas (1971–) French former professional footballer *

Leon Krier Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, urbanist *

Dhuoda Dhuoda (''fl.'' AD 824–844) was a Frankish writer, as well as Duchess consort of Septimania and Countess consort of Barcelona. She was the author of the ''Liber Manualis'', a handbook written for her son.Cherewatuk, Karen. "''Speculum Matris'': ...

, duchess consort of

Septimania Septimania is a historical region in modern-day southern France. It referred to the western part of the Roman province of '' Gallia Narbonensis'' that passed to the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theod ...

and writer of the '' Liber Manualis'' *

Bernard Plantapilosa Bernard Plantapilosa or Bernard II of Auvergne (22 March 841-886), or Plantevelue, son of Bernard of Septimania and Dhuoda, was the Count of Auvergne (as Bernard II) from 872 to his death. The Emperor Charles the Fat granted him the title of Ma ...

Count of Auvergne This is a list of the various rulers of Auvergne. History In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The cou ...

and second son of

* David Redfern (1936–2014) English music photographer *

Suzanne Verdier Suzanne Verdier (1745 – 1813) was a French writer. She was a contributor to the ''Encyclopédie''. Biography Suzanne Allut was born in 1745, in Montpellier. At the age of 20, along with her brother Antoine, she collaborated on the ''Encyclopédi ...

(1745–1813), writer * Frédéric Gabillon (1976–), racing driver