Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Taurenne_dans_le_paysage

Aups (;

Provençal Provençal may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Provence, a region of France ** Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France ** ''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language * Provenca ...

in the classical norm, ''Aup'' in the Mistralian norm, )However, after the preposition ''a ~ à'' 'to', the forms are ''as Aups ~ à-z-Aup'' and are pronounced is a commune in the Var department in the

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Located in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

at 500m alt, Aups is in the first foothills of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. The town is at the gates of

Verdon River The Verdon (, ) is a river in Southeastern France, left tributary of the Durance. Its drainage basin is .

, at 60 km from the sea and 80 km from the snow stations.
Aups is named ''Capital of Haut-Var'' and ''Capital of the

truffle A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...

'' and was made a part of the ''Parc naturel régional du Verdon'' in 2000. Its typically Mediterranean climate makes the village a healthy place to live.

Climate

Aups has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Csa''). The average annual temperature in Aups is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Aups was on 28 June 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 30 December 2005.

History

The village was named ''Oppidum de Alpibus'' (town of the Alps) then ''Castrum de Alpibus'' (fortress of the Alps), ''castrum de Almis'', then ''Alps'' and now Aups. The place was colonized by the Oxybians (a Ligurian tribe) during the time of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, near

Via Aurelia The Via Aurelia () is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary.'' 3rd ...

going from

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

(''Forum Julii'') to

Riez Riez (; Provençal Occitan: ''Riés''; sometimes Riez-la-Romaine) is a hilly commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is located northwest of the Lac de Sainte-Cro ...

(''Forum Reii'').

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

visited Aups on his way to conquering

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

. He is supposed to have said, « I would rather be the first man in Aups than the second in Rome ». In 1574, the town was looted by the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

s, who massacred 18 residents. A statue called "Maiden of the Massacre" was erected on square where the massacre took place, in Clock Street.
Aups was the centre of the Var Republican insurgency in 1851 against the coup d'état of Napoleon III, and became known as the "Center of Red Var". Aups was a stronghold of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during World War II. The city earned the '' Croix de guerre avec palmes''. It was liberated by American forces on 17 August 1944, two days after the

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil), known as Débarquement de Provence in French ("Provence Landing"), was the code name for the landing operation of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15Augu ...

landings to the south.

Population

Tourism

Truffles

Aups has the third largest

black truffle ''Tuber melanosporum'', called the black truffle, Périgord truffle or French black truffle, is a species of truffle native to Southern Europe. It is one of the most expensive edible fungi in the world. In 2013, the truffle cost between 1,000 a ...

market of France, known for its quality and importance. This market is held every Thursday from November to February.

Provençal Market

There is a colourful Provençal market, every Wednesday and Saturday featuring local products and handicrafts.

Taurenne Castle

The Château de Taurenne is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful and one of the last Var buildings dating from the Middle Ages. It is now home to an olive oil mill, with a boutique where you can find various award-winning olive oils.
Château de Taurenne website with information about the castle, garden, and olive oil production.

People from Aups

* The

Blacas The House of Blacas is the name of two ancient French nobility, French noble houses which successively owned the Lordship of Aups with its castle in Provence (whose name is still spelled in the ancient form ''Aulps'' in their surname). Blacas d'A ...

house - an old Provençal house, lords and dukes of Aups since the 12th century * Pierre Petit (1832–1909) - photographer * General Jean-Baptiste Girard (1775–1815) -

Général is the French word for general. There are two main categories of generals: the general officers (), which are the highest-ranking commanding officers in the armed forces, and the specialist officers with flag rank (), which are high-level offic ...

and

baron d'Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles in a newly established ' (imperial nobility) to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both befo ...

who fought the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. *

Pierre Yovanovitch Pierre Yovanovitch is a French Interior architecture, interior architect and furniture designer, who established his practice in Paris in 2001. In 2024, the Pierre Yovanovitch Group acquired the French furniture manufacturer d'Argentat and its ...

- Interior Designer - Chateau de Fabrègues - a 17th-century castle in Provence all renovated by the designer

References

Communes of Var (department) {{Var-geo-stub