Aups

Aups
	vive partout!
region	Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Department	Var
Arrondissement	Brignoles
Canton	Flayosc
Community association	Lacs et Gorges du Verdon
Coordinates	43 ° 38 ' N , 6 ° 13' E Coordinates: 43 ° 38 ' N , 6 ° 13' E
height	385-1,076 m
surface	64.15 km 2
Residents	2,228 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	35 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	83630
INSEE code	83007
Website	www.aups.fr
	; View of the village

Aups ( Provence Z'Aup ) is a commune with 2,228 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the Var department in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur .

geography

Aups is 500 m above sea level on the first foothills of the Alps ( Aups is the Occitan name of the Alps). Because of its proximity to the Verdon Gorge and the Lac de Sainte-Croix , the place is also called the Gate to the Verdon . The Espiguières mountain range rises directly from the village with its tuff stone walls pierced by numerous grottos and karst caves at 880 m from the fertile valley watered by the grave .

The climate in Aups is a dry, temperate Mediterranean climate . The distance to the sea is about 60 kilometers, the ski resorts of the Alps are 80 kilometers away.

In the plain, the vegetation consists mainly of Aleppo pines , stone and downy oaks for truffle cultivation and olive trees . At a height of 700 m, on the foothills of the Alps in the north of the municipality, there is a macchy made of Scots pine , garigue , boxwood and Kermes oak . The area of the municipality of Aups has been part of the Verdon Regional Nature Park since 2000 .

history

Aup's history goes back to Roman times when the Oxybians settled there. Originally the place was called Oppidum de Alpibus ( Latin fortified Alpine settlement ), later Castrum de Alpibus ( Alpine camp ), from which Castrum de Almis , Alps and finally Aups became. The settlement was on the Via Aurelia between Fréjus ( Forum Julii ) and Riez ( Forum Reii ). Gaius Julius Caesar came this way on his campaign of conquest in Gaul. Perhaps he was referring to Aups when, as the Greek writer Plutarch reports, he is said to have said in a small Alpine village that he would rather be the first here than the second in Rome. In the vicinity of Aups, numerous traces such as a former hospital or the milestones on the Plan de Canjuers plateau (Latin Campus Iulii , field of Julius [Caesar] ) tell of the presence of the Romans.

Aups was ravaged by the Saracens in the 10th century before they were defeated in the Battle of Tourtour .

The former noble chapter of Valmoissine was founded in 1499 by Pope Alexander VI. moved to Aups.

In 1532 King René I set up his own independent bailiwick in Aups, which previously belonged to Barjols . Just a year later, the rule fell back to Barjols when the knight king Franz I initiated a district reform.

The rule of Aups had been with the Dukes of Blacas d'Aulps , a historically important family in the region , since the year 1000 . However, in a process that began in the 14th century and lasted almost four hundred years until 1712, Aups managed to be legally subordinate to none other than the King of France and Navarre himself. To commemorate the joy this victory brought, the residents of Aups had a bell poured, which can still be seen today in the campanile of the Tour de l'Horloge tower . It bears the inscription "I am the joy of the whole world".

In the 16th century, Aups was the scene of bloody clashes during the Huguenot Wars , when the place was sacked by Huguenots under the leadership of the Baron of Allemagne-en-Provence and 18 residents of the place were murdered. The Vierge du Massacre was erected to commemorate this act on the scene of the event on Rue de l'Horloge .

During the French Revolution, the place suffered many more bloodbaths. About half a century later, Aups became the center of the republican uprising in the Var department against the coup d'état of Napoleon III. in 1851, which earned the community the nickname Center of the Red Var ( Center du Var Rouge ). The counter-offensive under Colonel Pastoureau reached Aups on December 10th of that year and again ended in a bloody manhunt. An obelisk in the Place Louis Martin Bidouré commemorates the numerous victims among the Republicans .

During the Second World War , Aups was a stronghold of the Resistance .

economy

Rue de l'horloge

Today Aups lives mainly from tourism, but viticulture, truffle hunting, handicrafts, construction and hunting as well as traditional Provencal handicrafts, carpentry, beekeeping and the production of olive oil still have their place.

The third largest market for black truffles from France takes place in Aups . The black olive variety Bouteillan comes from here and is also called Plant d'Aups .

tourism

Aups is the hub of the Haut Var. With the Verdon Gorge and Lac de Sainte Croix in the hinterland, numerous tourists come to Aups, not least because of the famous Provencal market, which is held every Wednesday and Saturday morning. There the medieval streets and alleys, the collegiate church of Saint-Pancrace , the chapel Notre-Dame de la Délivrance and the ruins of the castle and city wall offer further sights worth seeing.

The Ursuline Chapel on Rue du Maréchal Joffre houses a modern art museum dedicated to the painter Simon Segal (1898–1969) and the Paris School .

Economic history

The tannery (see Rue des Tanneurs ), silkworm breeding and brick production in old lime kilns were of relatively important importance .

Personalities

Part of the royal family of Blacas d'Aulps was born in Aups or in Vérignon .

Pierre Petit (* 1832 in Aups; † 1909) was one of the most prominent photographers of the 19th century. His picture of Pius IX. was the first photo taken of an incumbent Pope.
General Jean-Baptiste Girard (* 1775 in Aups; † 1815). Girard served 17 years in the army and died in the field at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 . He was Commander-in-Chief of the Legion of Honor, Peer of France and Prince of Ligny .
the actor Raimu , bourgeois Jules Auguste César Muraire , had a property between the Ursuline convent, the grave and the tomb of the princes of Blacas. The large, majestic garden can be seen from the D957 road towards Lac de Sainte-Croix and Moissac-Bellevue.
JRR Tolkien had a holiday home near the city center.
Simon Segal (1898–1969) was a painter from the Ecole de Paris. A museum in Aups is dedicated to him. 56 works by Segal (including pictures of the city of Aups) are exhibited there.

Individual evidence

^ Plutarch, The Life of Caesar, chapter 11.

Web links

Commons : Aups - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Plutarch, The Life of Caesar, chapter 11.