Saint-Gilles (Gard)
| Saint-Gilles | ||
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| region | Occitania | |
| Department | Gard | |
| Arrondissement | Nîmes | |
| Canton | Saint-Gilles | |
| Community association | Nîmes metropolis | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 41 ′ N , 4 ° 26 ′ E | |
| height | 0-116 m | |
| surface | 153.73 km 2 | |
| Residents | 13,607 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 89 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 30800 | |
| INSEE code | 30258 | |
| Website | http://saint-gilles.fr/ | |
 Saint-Gilles Abbey Church from the west |
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Saint-Gilles , also called Saint-Gilles-du-Gard to distinguish it , is a French commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region . It belongs to the arrondissement of Nîmes and is the capital of the Canton de Saint-Gilles .
geography
Saint-Gilles has 13,607 inhabitants on an area of 153.73 km² (as of January 1, 2017). The municipality covers a large part of the Petite-Camargue and is located west of Arles . The city is accessed from the Canal du Rhône à Sète , which ends bluntly in Beaucaire . About five kilometers south-east of the city, the Canal de Saint-Gilles connects with the Petit Rhône , which is used by shipping. The old town center rises on a small rock spur.
history
City and church owe their name to from Athens originating merchant Giles , who here in the 7th century as a hermit settled and the Benedictines - Monastery Saint-Gilles founded. Aegidius was later called "Saint Gilles" and made a saint ; he is one of the fourteen emergency helpers . According to legend, he is buried in the crypt of the Saint-Gilles abbey church .
As early as the 11th century, Saint-Gilles had become an important collecting point on the Via Aegidia , one of the routes used by the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela . Also due to the increasing religious importance, the city of Saint-Gilles developed next to the monastery, which was connected as a trading center to the Mediterranean via the branch of the Rhône.
When construction began on the Romanesque church in 1116, the city experienced its greatest heyday. In the 13th century it had 40,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest port cities on the Mediterranean.
Not far from the Place de la Republique is a Romanesque house, the Maison Romane ; it is said that Pope Clement IV was born there. The museum housed in this house contains sculptures and structural fragments from the old choir of the abbey church.
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | 2017 |
| Residents | 6721 | 8742 | 8679 | 9887 | 11.304 | 11,626 | 13,234 | 13,607 |
| Sources: Cassini and INSEE | ||||||||
Attractions
The Abbey of Saint-Gilles , and Abbey Church of St. Äegidius , was built in the years 1125 to 1150 and belonged to a convent of Benedictine . Because of the grave of St. Aegidius, it is still an important stage on the Via Tolosana , one of the French sections of the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela .
Since 1998 the church has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage as part of the “ Paths of the Pilgrims to St. James in France ” .
Town twinning
Saint-Gilles has a partnership with Altopascio in Tuscany (Italy), and since 2016 with the city of Abensberg in Lower Bavaria.
Personalities
- Aegidius († probably 720), abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Gilles
- Raimund of St. Gilles (1041 / 1042–1105)
- Peter de Bruys († around 1132), leader of the Petrobrusians
- Clement IV (* around 1200 in Saint-Gilles (Gard), † 1268), Pope of the Roman Catholic Church
- Pierre de Castelnau († 1208 near the Abbey of Saint-Gilles), papal legate
- Pierre Subleyras (1699–1749), French Baroque painter
- Georges-Jean Arnaud (1928-2020), writer
Web links
- Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1570: The stat in Languedoc called S. Gillis, Waiting occupied by the Papists but at hand, The documented umb helped to help, At those of Nimis which soon met ... ( digitized version )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saint Gilles and Abensberg are now twin cities on www.abensberg.de