Cairanne
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Cairanne (; ) is a commune in the
Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.
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 ...
whose inhabitants were locally nicknamed ''leis afrontaires de Cairana'', the cheeky ones from Cairanne. It dates from the mid-8th century and is located midway between
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
and
Vaison-la-Romaine Vaison-la-Romaine (; ) is a town in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. Vaison-la-Romaine is famous for its rich Roman ruins and mediaeval town and ca ...
. The village economy depends largely on its production of wine that falls into the various categories of wines from the
Rhône valley The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea ( Gu ...
.


History

The settlement was first mentioned in 739 CE as ''Queroana'' and later became known as Cayrane and then Cairanne. Early on the Church played a pivotal role in the political and cultural formation of the region.
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
arrived 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 ...
very early and the region was already extensively Christianized by the third century CE with numerous monasteries and churches being constructed. The small fortified settlement of Cairanne became first a fortified village of the
Templars The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...
, who in 1123 began with the construction of the ramparts. As was usual during these times the ramparts served both as a fortified wall and as housing for the local population. In 1312, the order was officially disbanded by
Pope Clement V Pope Clement V (; – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his death, in April 1314. He is reme ...
, and some of its properties were assigned to the
Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...
, with much of it remaining in the hands of King
Philip the Fair Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre and Count of Champagne as Philip I from ...
of France and
King Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
of
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. Cairanne was henceforth ruled by the Knights Hospitallers, who later became known as the
Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...
. There were many years of war, marauding bands and diseases, including as the
Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
in 1348. Economic conditions for the common people were difficult and slow and a steady decline set in. Cairanne was added to the
papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...
territory in 1317 under the reign of
Pope John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Papacy, Avignon Pope, elected by ...
. It was ruled by a succession of noble families, the last one being Jean-Jacques Vidaud, who was
guillotine A guillotine ( ) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by Decapitation, beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secur ...
d on 25 June 1794 during the French Revolution. From the nineteenth century, wine growers started to move closer to the vineyards which multiplied in the hills and plains around Cairanne. The lower village of Cairanne gradually became the focal point of commerce, education and local government and the old village partly fell into disrepair. In the 1960s, as with many other fortified villages in Provence, the French government began an effort to preserve and renovated these historic places. In 1960 the old Saint Martin church, which was totally in ruins, was rebuilt and dedicated as Notre Dame de la Vigne et du Rosaire (Our Lady of the Vine and the Rosary). Many of the stones of Saint Martin had been pillaged during the previous centuries and were used to construct houses in the area. At the same time the village and the apartments and houses which had been built into the fortified walls constructed by the Knights Templars were sold to private owners, mostly from the region. The revival of the old village had begun and by 1980 most of the work had been finished.


Cairanne wine

During the eighteenth century the economy of the region began to revive as wine growing increased in importance. A decree of 1766 demonstrates that the local winegrowers were thinking in terms of an appellation: "Innkeepers may only sell to private individuals wine of the place, in sealed bottles. In consequence, kindly ask the Police to place the seal on said bottles, and innkeepers must justify the provenance of their wine". In 1863
phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...
first appeared and progressively destroyed the majority of French vineyards except for some in sandy terrain. At the beginning of the twentieth century the winegrowers struggled to revive the ravaged vineyards and enhance the quality of their wine. The main remedy was the use of resistant rootstock from the Five Finger Lake region in upstate
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
to guard against phylloxera as well as to focus on quality rather than quantity. Finally Baron
Pierre Le Roy Boiseaumarié Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translatio ...
, a trained lawyer and winegrower at heart, successfully obtained legal recognition of the " Côtes du Rhône" appellation of origin in 1937. The village of Cairanne is on the southern Côtes du Rhône wine route and its quality wines are designated Cairanne AOC since February 2016,Cairanne promoted to Côtes du Rhône cru
''
Decanter A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid (such as wine) which may contain sediment. Decanters, which have a varied shape and design, have been traditionally made from glass or crystal. Their volume is usually equiv ...
'', 2016-02-18 having previously been part of the larger
Côtes-du-Rhône Villages AOC Côtes-du-Rhône Villages () is a French wine ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) produced in 95 settlements in the departments of the Ardèche, the Drôme, the Gard, and the Vaucluse in the southern Rhône (wine region), Rhône wine regi ...
. Other notable wine villages nearby are
Gigondas Gigondas (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2021 it had a population of 430. Geography Gigondas lies in between Vacqueyras and Sablet at the foot of the Dentelles ...
,
Rasteau Rasteau (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Town twins * Houyet, Belgium (since 1991) See also *Communes of the Vaucluse department The following is a list of the ...
, Seguret,
Sablet Sablet () is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a fortified Provençal village rich in history. Population Geography Sablet is situated at the foot of the Dentelles de ...
, Beaumes de Venise,
Vacqueyras Vacqueyras (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Vacqueyras is also the name of an Appellation for a wine from the Côtes du Rhône. Geography Access Departmental R ...
. The Cairanne red wines are full-bodied, fruity and spicy (black pepper), with a smooth finish.


Buildings

The village is made up of two distinct parts: the old village (population 80) on top of the hill and the village proper below (population 850). Most of the buildings in the old village date from the eighteenth century except the old ramparts which date back to the 12th century when first the
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
and then the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
lived in the village. A steep stairway leads up to the keep and then on to the St Roch chapel (1726) located next to the Autanne Gate. A pathway along the ramparts (1123), which surrounds the old village affords panoramic views of
Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...
and
Mont Saint-Andéol Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, Sa ...
. On the path round the battlements are two round towers and a square one called the "Templars' Tower". Visible historical remains that can be seen include the old village, the keep, the Chapel of St Roch (1726), the ramparts (1123), the 18th century Autanne Gate, the ''Chemin de Ronde de St Roch'' (a path round the battlements), the Templars' Tower, and the Chapel of Notre Dame des Exés (1631).


Twin towns – sister cities

*
Flobecq Flobecq (; ; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. It borders to the municipalities of Ellezelles (to the west) and Lessines (to the east) in the same province an ...
, Belgium (since 1978) *
Žďár nad Sázavou Žďár nad Sázavou (; ) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The town is an industrial and tourist centre. It is known for the Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk, which is a UNESCO Wor ...
, Czech Republic (since 2003)


See also

*
Communes of the Vaucluse department The following is a list of the 151 communes of the Vaucluse department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Communes of Vaucluse