Calvisson (; Provençal: ''Cauviçon'') is a commune in the Gard department in the

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. It lies between Nîmes, Montpellier, the Cevennes and the

Camargue Camargue (, also , , ; oc, label=Provençal, Camarga) is a region of France located south of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône delta. The eastern arm is called the ''Grand Rhône''; the western one is the ...

and has a strong

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

history.

Geography

Calvisson is a commune in Gard west of Nîmes. It is in the northern foothills of the Vaunage, a fertile valley surrounded by a rim of limestone hills rising to 200 m. The most prominent hill is the Rock of Gachone, which was the site of an important

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretch ...

, or a fortified town, under the Romans. The natural vegetation is classic

garrigue Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( el, φρύγανα , n. pl.), is a type of low scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. It is found on limestone soils in southern Fran ...

; today the valley is used for vineyards and horticulture. A tiny stream, the Escattes, flows through the villag

Calvisson also includes the hamlets of Sinsans and Bizac.

History

The site is known to have been settled since the

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', " copper" and ''líthos'', " stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regul ...

transition (4300–3200 BC) In 1060, at the time of the domination of Counts de Toulouse, the name Calvisson appears for the first time. At the time, it was a fortified town surmounted by two towers which covered 2000 m². This fortified town controlled all of the Vaunage. In 1304 King

Philip IV of France Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1 ...

gave to

Guillaume de Nogaret Guillaume de Nogaret (1260 13 April 1313) was a French statesman, councillor and keeper of the seal to Philip IV of France. Early life Nogaret was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, Haute-Garonne. The family held a small ancestral property o ...

as a fiefdom. From the 16th century, with the beginnings of

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

, Calvisson was divided by the

wars of religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. The village becomes a centre of

protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

ism. In 1681, the Catholic

King Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, used his troops to re-convert Protestants. On 30 June 1685, being Protestant became illegal in Nîmes. The religion moved underground, the paid pastor was replaced by the lay ''prophet''. The wars slowly destroyed the castle which, by the middle of the 17th century is used as stone quarry. The

Camisards Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...

operated throughout the mainly protestant Cévennes region which in the early years of the eighteenth century also included the Vaunage and the parts of the

around Aigues Mortes. In 1701, the village was a protestant stronghold which was occupied and then, in 1704, used as a base for the royalist troops in the battle of

Nages Nages (; oc, Najas) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn department of France. The communes cooperate in th ...

against the protestant forces of

Jean Cavalier Jean Cavalier (28 November 1681 – 17 May 1740), was the Huguenot chief of the Camisards. He was born at Mas Roux, a small hamlet in the commune of Ribaute near Anduze, southern France. Early life His father, an illiterate peasant, had ...

the ''prophet'' and military leader. In 1787, the Rock of Gachone which stands above the village is used as triangulation point by Jean-Dominique Cassini for mapping the area.

Population

Sights

* The church of St Saturnin is 12th-century Romanesque and 15th-century Provençal Gothic * the Temple is 19th-century neo-classical. * the Rock of Gachone rises over the village to the west. There were four

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in so ...

s there, three have been partially restored. 30420VoieVerte1542

* The beginning of the 21st century saw the old railway transformed into Voie Verte- that is a metalled cycleway through the Vaunage: from Caveirac, through Calvisson and

Congénies Congénies (; oc, Congènhas) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. It is situated between Nîmes, Montpellier, the Cévennes and the Camargue and has a strong Quaker history. Congénies possesses the only and oldest pur ...

to Junas and

Sommières Sommières (; oc, Someire) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France, located at the border with the Hérault department. It lies from Nîmes, from Montpellier. Geography Sommières is to the south of the garrigues and on the ...

. This is used by horses, cycles, and pedestrians. The two major roads on the route are avoided by means of bespoke tunnels. * Three of the four windmills for which it was known have been restored.

Events

Bull running happens in Calvisson, according to the Carmargues tradition, where no bull gets hurt. The annual event takes place around 20 July over a period of five days. There are four events, the Abrivado where over ten bulls are run together through the street guided by a group of twelve 'guardians' mounted on white Camargues horses, an Encierro where one bull is released outside the foyer and finds his own way back to the pen, the Bandido where one bull is run accompanied through the streets, and the Bandido de nuit which is the same thing but after dark. Boys and men run with the bulls and try and separate them from the horses, stop them, and physically turn them away from the horses.

Notable people

Hubert Rouger Hubert Rouger (October 6, 1875, Calvisson (Gard) – 21 September 1958, Nîmes) was a French politician and socialist activist. First a winemaker, in 1905 he became director of a printing cooperative in Nîmes. A socialist activist, he contri ...