Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert ( or ; ) is a commune in the

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

department in the

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

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 ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. Situated where the Gellone river's narrow valley meets the steep-sided gorge of the river

, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert is essentially a medieval village located on the Chemin de Saint-Jacques (

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

) pilgrim route to

Santiago de Compostella Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedra ...

Geography

The municipality of Saint-Guilhem covers nearly 40 km² in area. The town is served by two departmental roads - the D122 and D4. The nearest towns are

Saint-André-de-Sangonis Saint-André-de-Sangonis (''Sant Andrieu de Sangònis'' in Occitan) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Geography Located from Montpellier, Saint-André-de-Sangonis is nestled in the Hérault ...

(12 km away) and Gignac (15 km away).

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Lodève Lodève (; , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Hérault, in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefe ...

and

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

(which stands near the source of the Hérault) are all about 35 km away. The town has retained a medieval appearance. It is located on the borders of the Massif Central, in the middle valley of the Hérault, north of the department of the same name. The territory of the town lies in an intramontane zone formed by the extension of the Séranne mountain and the Cellette mountain a few kilometres from the

Garrigue Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( , 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 France and around the ...

s of the plain of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

Hydrography

The commune of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert is drained by the river

and its tributaries Verdus and Ruisseau de la Combe du Bouys.

History

The village has maintained its historic state. Because of its isolation, in 806 Saint Guilhem established the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Gellone here. In 804, saint Guillaume ('saint Guilhèm' in

langue d'oc Occitan (; ), also known by its native speakers as (; ), sometimes also referred to as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Valleys, as well as Spain's Val d'Aran in Catalonia; collectively, thes ...

), the count of Toulouse and Duke of Aquitaine, founded an abbey here at a time when the valley was virtually uninhabited, hence its appellation "desert". The abbey was called The Abbey of Gellone until Guillaume's death in 812, after which it was named The Abbey of Guillaume, and then the Abbey of Saint-Guilhem following his

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

in 1066. The

Abbey of Aniane The abbey of Aniane was a Benedictine monastery in southern France between 782 and 1790. Founded by Benedict of Aniane with the support of Charlemagne, it was a major reforming monastery in the Carolingian era. It went into decline in the 16th cent ...

, nearby, was founded around 782 by a relative of Guillaume. The abbey became a very important centre of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

in the Middle Ages due to a claim that a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

of a piece of the true cross was housed here. The town developed around the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the abbey fell within the territory of the diocese of Lodeve. During the French Revolution, the town temporarily bore the name of Verdus-le-Désert.

Landmarks

* The parish church is the former abbey church of the abbey of Gellone where we find the best preserved French organ of Jean-Pierre Cavaillé. * The

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

of the abbey. A large part of this cloister was sold and dismantled during the French Revolution and exported to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where some of it is in

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art ...

, a museum in New York. *The town is on the route of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage. * An archaeological museum is housed in the abbey's former refectory. Its collection includes sculptures from the cloister, and the sarcophagi of St. Guilhem and his sisters. * The tower of the prisons and the castle of the Giant, elements of fortification and defence of the borough. * The cave of Clamouse, "one of the most beautiful caves in France.

Culture

In summer, the abbey of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert and the chapel of the Penitents are the venues for concerts, especially those of the Rencontres Musicales of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, those of the Friends of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. Guilhem and the Camerata Mediterranea.

Demographics

Miscellaneous

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert is one of the ''

Plus Beaux Villages de France Plus or PLUS may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * Plus (band), a Japanese pop boy band Albums and EPs * + (Ed Sheeran album), ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * Plus (Astrud Gilberto and Jame ...

'' ("The most beautiful villages of France"), and the Abbey of Gellone, along with the nearby Pont du Diable were designated UNESCO World Heritages sites in 1999. A part of the cloister of the monastery was moved to

museum in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

.Daniel Kletke, ''The cloister of St.-Guilhem-le-Désert at The Cloisters in New York City'', Köster, Berlin, 1997. A new sculpture museum, containing stone works from the abbey, was dedicated on June 26, 2009. In coordination with this event, a weekend of music and a colloquium was organized in large part by the

Camerata Mediterranea Joel Cohen (born May 29, 1942; https://www.instagram.com/p/DKazFety-0n/) is an American musician specializing in early music. Cohen was involved with thBoston Camerata an American early music ensemble. Cohen studied at Harvard University and fu ...

Gallery

File:Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, France.JPG File:St Guilhem4.JPG File:Chemin de S Jacques sign in S Guilhem le Désert, France.jpg, A sign marking the Way of Saint James in Saint Guilhem le Désert File:Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (Hérault, Fr) la mairie.JPG, La mairie de Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert File:Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (Hérault, Fr) sécretariat de la mairie.JPG, Secrétariat de la mairie Image:P1010789 rue de Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert.JPG, Rue du bourg de Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert File:Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (Hérault, Fr) ancienne Tour-prison.JPG, La tour des prisons File:153 Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Eglise.JPG, L'église abbatiale vue de l'aval File:148 Saint-guilhem-le-Désert Eglise et cloître.JPG, L'église abbatiale et le cloître Image:Saint-Guilhem_chevet.jpg, Le chevet de l'abbatiale de Saint-Guilhem File:St Guilhem-le-Désert,abbaye de Gellone J.P.Cavaillé01.jpg, Orgue Jean-Pierre Cavaillé de l'abbaye de Gellone Image:Abbey Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert fg03.jpg, Cloître du monastère Image:St Guilhem101.jpg, Cloître reconstruit au musée

aux États-Unis Image:St-Guilhem ruines-du géant.jpg, Les ruines du géant Image:PontDiableHerault.JPG, Pont du Diable (ou Pont de Saint Guilhem datant du Moyen Âge) enjambant l'Hérault Image:Pont_du_diable.jpg, Nouveau pont sur l'Hérault (1932), à l'entrée des gorges de l'

; au fond, l'aqueduc. Image:Gorges de l'Hérault.jpg, Pont du canal « de Gignac » (env. 1890) et gorges de l'Hérault.

References

External links

Official site (French)Camerata Mediterranea and June, 2009 colloquium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintguilhemledesert Communes of Hérault Plus Beaux Villages de France World Heritage Sites in France Burial sites of the Carolingian dynasty