Bonnevaux (Gard)

Bonnevaux
region	Occitania
Department	Gard
Arrondissement	Alès
Canton	La Grand-Combe
Community association	Alès agglomeration
Coordinates	44 ° 22 ′  N , 4 ° 2 ′  E Coordinates: 44 ° 22 ′  N , 4 ° 2 ′  E
height	360-976 m
surface	8.81 km 2
Residents	88 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	10 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	30450
INSEE code	30044
View of the place

Bonnevaux is a French commune with 88 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Gard department in the Occitanie region .

geography

The municipality of Bonnevaux is located in the mountains of the Cevennes and in the far north of the Gard department, on the border with the Ardeche department . It is located 65 kilometers northwest of Nîmes .

The main part of the settlement area lies on the slope below a mountain ridge that reaches a height of 933 meters at its summit. In addition to the core town, there are about ten hamlets and individual settlements spread across the area. Allègres , Le Bosc and Coulis are counted among the hamlets . The majority of it extends along the Bonne vallée valley in the east, through which the small mountain river Abeau flows. Despite the location in the mountains, the community area is relatively strongly characterized by people and especially agricultural use, for example by terraces laid out on the slopes. The agricultural sector is still of relatively high importance today.

The neighboring municipalities of Bonnevaux are Malons-et-Elze in the north, Les Vans in the northeast, Malbosc in the east, Aujac in the south and west and Ponteils-et-Brésis in the northwest.

Infrastructure

There are connections to neighboring towns via local roads. There are no further routes in the immediate vicinity, but the D104 , which runs a good ten kilometers to the east, connects to the cities of Alès and Aubenas .

History and culture

The name of the valley Bonne vallée explains the origin of the place name derived from it. The existence of Bonnevaux in has been documented since the Middle Ages. It was first mentioned when a large area, of which the present municipality was only part, passed into the possession of the Abbey of Saint-Ruf in Valence in 1197 . They built a small monastery with the Notre Dame church on site and were permanently represented up to and including some friars; only in the 18th century did they move on to Saint-Paul-le-Jeune . The Cevennes Wars , a religious conflict between the strong Protestants in the Cevennes and the Catholic royal family, affected the place and caused the clergy to flee temporarily. In 1723 they finally moved away, with which numerous church properties also disappeared from the building, as they remained in the possession of the order. The vacant monastery complex, which bears the name L'Abadié and represented its own settlement, has since been exposed to decay. The village church of Saint-Théodorit , which was probably built in the 11th century, has survived the historical developments, is considered to be extremely beautiful and represents the center of the core town. At the same time, it is the starting point for paths and paths to the other inhabited towns.

Local development has always been shaped by the remoteness in the mountains. So there was only a passable road to Bonnevaux in 1932 and until 1950 the inhabitants had to get by without electricity. From the 1980s onwards, however, a lot was done for culture and local life. The measures included renovating the church and building a new mairie .

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2017
Residents	35	32	30th	51	61	102	96	88

In 1841 the community still had 385 inhabitants, but due to a steady decline in value, the population had reduced to 243 people by 1901. A particularly sharp decline began in the 1910s and continued for decades. In 1936 there were only 92 residents and in 1975 the municipality reached a historic low with 30 residents. This dropped the number to around an eighth of the level at the beginning of the century. Subsequently, however, there was also a rapid recovery, so that around the year 2000 there were around 100 inhabitants again.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bonnveaux Cévennes , bonnevaux-cevennes.fr
2. ^ Bonnevaux - Notice Communale , cassini.ehess.fr