Villevieille

Villevieille
region	Occitania
Department	Gard
Arrondissement	Nîmes
Canton	Calvisson
Community association	Pays de Sommieres
Coordinates	43 ° 47 '  N , 4 ° 6'  E Coordinates: 43 ° 47 '  N , 4 ° 6'  E
height	23-106 m
surface	8.28 km 2
Residents	1,709 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	206 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	30250
INSEE code	30352
Website	mairie-villevieille.fr
Villevieille Castle

Villevieille is a French commune with 1709 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Gard department in the Occitanie region .

geography

Villevieille is 13 kilometers north-west of Lunel between Nîmes, 22 kilometers away, and Montpellier, 27 kilometers away . The border with the Hérault department runs a few kilometers to the southwest . The place is on the southern edge of the Cevennes foothills and around 20 kilometers north of the Mediterranean . The municipality is traversed by the Vidourle and the Ruisseau d'Aigalade and Ruisseau des Corbières streams .

The settlement area of ​​Villevieille merges with that of the village of Sommières, the commune is part of the agglomeration of Sommières. The neighboring municipalities of Villevieille are Fontanès and Souvignargues in the north, Aujargues and Congénies in the east, Junas in the southeast, Sommières in the south and Salinelles in the west. A special feature of the municipality is an appendix about two kilometers long and about 200 meters wide, which runs between Junas and Aujargues and thus far away from Villevieille.

history

Because the region around today's location had a good water supply and the plateau of Villevieille allowed a wide view of the surrounding plains, the area had been inhabited since early history. There is evidence of a permanent settlement from the Copper Age, which was replaced by an oppidum during the Roman occupation . In the first century it became one of the most important settlements in the region, which was favored by its location on the road from Nîmes to Lodève . The existence of the medieval place has been documented since the 10th century.

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2009	2017
Residents	343	507	650	936	1030	1196	1650	1709

Buildings

The castle of Villevieille was founded in 1041 by the Count of Melgueil , but twelve years later it passed into the possession of the King of France. According to a legend, Louis IX met. here the decision to develop Aigues-Mortes into a fortress. After its destruction by the Cathar Wars , the building was rebuilt in the 13th century. In 1622 Louis XIII visited the castle in order to prepare the siege of Sommières from there. During the French Revolution , unlike almost all the aristocratic residences in the region, the castle was spared because the owner was a friend of the enlightened Voltaire . Instead, it was damaged by the German occupiers during World War II . The building was declared a Monument historique in 1972 and is still owned by the descendants of the Count of Villevieille.

The current Catholic local church was built in 1681 after the old church was destroyed in 1575. It is called Sainte-Croix . It received a new bell in 1769 and was restored in 1979. There is also a Protestant church built in 1855 in the village. The building, which has been owned by the municipality since 1997, was renovated in 2005.

In the municipality there are a total of 101 capitelles , which are huts in the hills outside the village, which were first permanently inhabited. Later they were mainly used by farmers during working hours. With the First World War , the construction of the huts largely stopped. All capitelles are under monument protection. There is also a pigeon house in Villevieille , which has been a historical monument since 1964, and a lavoir . It was built in 1881 and renovated in 1999.

Web links

• Website of the municipality (French)

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mairie de Villevieille , annuaire-mairie.fr
2. ↑ ^{a b} La commune , mairie-villevieille.fr
3. ↑ Histoire on mairie-villevieille.fr in French.