Sumène
| Sumène | ||
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| region | Occitanie | |
| Department | Gard | |
| Arrondissement | Le Vigan | |
| Canton | Le Vigan | |
| Community association | Cévennes Gangeoises et Suménoises | |
| Coordinates | 43 ° 59 ′ N , 3 ° 43 ′ E | |
| height | 175-933 m | |
| surface | 36.59 km 2 | |
| Residents | 1,549 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 42 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 30440 | |
| INSEE code | 30325 | |
Sumène is a small town in the south of France with 1549 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Gard department , in the Occitanie region . Its inhabitants are called Sumènois. The place is located in a narrow basin formed by the Rieutord and Recodier rivers in the south of the Cevennes Mountains. For reasons of space, Sumène has only grown a little beyond its medieval borders; There are only small new housing estates in the north of the town. The place is not connected to the local public transport. The basic needs are met by small shops, bars and craftsmen. Sumène belongs together with twelve other municipalities to the special purpose association Communauté des Communes Cévennes Gangeoises et Suménoises, which u. a. takes care of schools, culture, hiking trails and garbage collection.
history
In the 1st century AD Sumène was one of 24 communities in the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes). The place was on the Roman route from Nîmes to Condatomagos ( Millau ), the later royal route (chemin royal) from Provence to Millau and Rodez . Already in ancient times there was probably a hostel or a rest area here.
In the Middle Ages Sumène came under the rule of the Visigoths , then the Franks and later the diocese of Arisitum, which probably had its seat in what is now Le Vigan . Around 800 there was a monastery on the left bank of the Rieutord, opposite the future city. In 1140 Sumène belonged to the diocese of Nîmes, then in 1694 to the newly founded diocese of Alès .
In 1384 the place had just 17 households. In 1417 it was already protected by a fastening ring. In 1275 the right to elect city councilors (Syndics) was chartered. In 1531 Sumène had 2,000 inhabitants. The wool weaving and cooperage had a certain economic importance. Because of its location on the Königsweg, Suméne was primarily a place of traders. There were also numerous restaurants. In terms of traffic, Sumène is completely meaningless today, because the roads from Nîmes and Montpellier to Millau no longer lead through this place, but through the neighboring town of Ganges .
Wars of Religion 1557 Sumène is one of the first places in Languedoc where the Protestant faith prevails. A few years later there were hardly any Catholics in the neighboring cities of Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort , Ganges and Le Vigan. In Sumène, on the other hand, around a quarter of the population remained Catholic, including the baron.
In 1568 the long series of religious wars and phases of peace began in Sumène, which only ended with the French Revolution . On February 28th, Catholic soldiers conquered the town. A few days later it was recaptured by the (Protestant) Huguenots . Churches and chapels were now destroyed, including in the surrounding hamlets, and the clergy were expropriated. Just two years later, in 1570, the consequences of these conflicts, from which the population will suffer for almost two centuries, became apparent: chronic lack of money in the city's coffers, hunger, epidemics. The plague broke out in 1588 and 1722.
A somewhat longer period of peace began under King Henry IV with the Edict of Nantes in 1591, and the Catholics in Sumène drew the courage to build a new church. In the absence of a church, they held their masses in a room in the baron's castle. Construction of the church only began in 1615. But now Louis XIII ruled . and the wars of religion flared up again. In 1622 the unfinished church was partially destroyed again.
On the orders of Louis XIII. Not only did the Sumènoises have to cut their own city fortifications, but they also had to help tear down the city walls of Ganges . And in 1628 exactly these walls had to be rebuilt on the orders of the Protestant military leader Heinrich II von Rohan . Sumène became Catholic again under King Louis XIV . In March 1703, the Protestant underground fighters, the camisards , conquered the small town that had increasingly emptied itself due to the ongoing conflict: in 1687 there were 263 families, in 1749 there were still around a hundred. Today Sumène is a Catholic place in a strongly Protestant environment.
Population development
| year | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2010 | 2017 |
| Residents | 2139 | 1913 | 1702 | 1613 | 1417 | 1492 | 1614 | 1549 |
| Sources: Cassini and INSEE | ||||||||
Worth seeing
- Sumène is known for the festival "Les Transes Cévenoles", which takes place every year on the last weekend in July.
- The historic town center is well preserved.
- The narrow valleys of Rieutord and Recodier and the surrounding mountains are ideal for hiking and cycling. A circular path (PR) leads very steeply to the Ranc de Banes (562 m) with a panoramic view of the mountains, then high above the left bank of the Rieutord, through the Baume Clauside cave (which is said to have served as a hiding place for the Camisards) and over the medieval Pont de Chêvre to the other bank, uphill again where the path meets the GR 60 long-distance hiking trail.
- In the factory hall of L'Arsoie Cervin there is one of the last reading machines still in operation worldwide, which is used for the production of nylon stockings .
literature
Cabane, Mathilde: Histoire de Sumène - De la Réforme à la Revolution, Sumène 1995
