Peyrolles (Gard)

Peyrolles
region	Occitania
Department	Gard
Arrondissement	Le Vigan
Canton	Le Vigan
Community association	Causses Aigoual Cevennes
Coordinates	44 ° 7 ′  N , 3 ° 50 ′  E Coordinates: 44 ° 7 ′  N , 3 ° 50 ′  E
height	228-804 m
surface	8.29 km 2
Residents	33 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	4 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	30124
INSEE code	30195
Website	http://www.peyrolles.fr/

Peyrolles is a French commune with 33 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Gard department in the Occitanie region .

geography

The municipality of Peyrolles is located 36 kilometers west of Alès and 63 kilometers northwest of Nîmes in the Cevennes . In the north it borders on the neighboring Lozère department .

Its area extends for about six kilometers in a north-south direction and is crossed in the middle by the Gardon de Saint-Jean . This creates a division of the landscape in two into the river valley and the surrounding mountain ranges, which in the municipality reach a maximum height of 804 meters. Peyrolles does not have a core town, instead it is a collection of individual settlements. The greatest concentration of settlement area on the extremely sparsely populated area is on the La Salle elevation above the river valley, which is why it can be called the center of the municipality. Around 85 percent of their total area is covered by forests and other vegetation.

The neighboring municipalities of Peyrolles are Moissac-Vallée-Française in the north, Saint-Jean-du-Gard in the east, Sainte-Croix-de-Caderle in the southeast, Soudorgues in the southwest and L'Estréchure in the west.

Infrastructure

The D907 road , which runs along the Gardon through the municipality, connects to Anduze and parts of the greater area around the city of Alès in a south-easterly direction via Saint-Jean-du-Gard . The route leads in a north-westerly direction to Florac .

History and culture

In the case of Peyrolles there is a direct connection between the coat of arms and the name: The coat of arms shows three cauldrons, while the Occitan word pairol also stands for "cauldron". In fact, however, the name does not go back to pairol , but to the word peyre for "stone". It can be assumed that the rocky environment gave rise to the name. Historically, different spellings existed such as Pairolles and for centuries Peyroles was the official variant; only in 2006 was the second L added.

The history of Peyrolles goes back to the Middle Ages. A document written in December 1242 indicates the existence of a parish and a document from 1321 suggests that at least parts of it were in the possession of the Lords of Sauve . Later the commune was part of a region that was strongly influenced by the Protestant faith and suffered from the religious tensions in the country. As early as 1689, the pastor was the victim of a possibly accidental murder attempt, which could also have been directed at his colleague from Saint-Jean-du-Gard. Because the main suspect remained silent and thus accepted his death, the truth could never be clarified. From 1702 to 1705, the entire region was the scene of the Cevennes War led by the Protestant Camisards . While a local resident joined the camisards and later paid for it with his life, Abraham Mazel, a prominent representative of the Protestants, regularly sought refuge in the hamlet of La Baume . In the course of the conflict, which from the Protestants' point of view ended in defeat, the local church was set on fire and renovated a few years later; the Protestant prayer house has been preserved to this day.

In the French Revolution , despite its remoteness and small size, the parish played a role as the local pastor at Versailles helped prepare the Estates General of 1789 . In addition, a former local ruler was killed in the course of the revolution.

In addition to the church, the sights include, in particular, the various historical courtyards throughout the municipality. There is also the stone arch bridge Pont de l'Arénas and the former water supply system, which has now been restored.

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2007	2017
Residents	41	36	38	31	28	37	41	33

In 1793 the community of Peyrolles still had 202 inhabitants, but in the following 19th century there was a downward trend accompanied by fluctuations, which is why the number had dropped to 132 by 1901. From then on, a sharp decline set in within a few decades, so that in 1936 no more than 42 citizens remained. The number leveled off at this level in the long term, although there were still deviations and in 1990 the all-time low was recorded with 28 people.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Commune de Peyrolles (Gard) , peyrolles.fr
2. ↑ Présentation de Peyrolles , peyrolles.fr
3. ↑ ^{a b} Peyrolles - Notice Communale , cassini.ehess.fr
4. ↑ Histoire de Peyrolles (Gard) , peyrolles.fr

Web links

Commons : Peyrolles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files