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TAVE RIVER VALLEY
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Saint Laurent la
Vernede |
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Click to visit town,
village or monument ::
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Saint Laurent la Vernede
on gard-provencal.com :: |
| Restaurants |
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| Population :: |
600 |
Village
festival :: |
The weekend closest to August 10 (feast
of St. Lawrence). |
| Town hall :: |
04 66 72 80 82 |
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The village spreads out over the hillsides that run along the left bank of the
Tave Valley.
Its history goes back to the prehistoric age, as is proven by the magnificent
dolmen of Cocovèze.
The well-preserved communal fort dates from the 15th century. It comprises four
round towers, an indented great door, its original alleys, and the Romanesque
bell-tower adjacent to the church. The latter is composed of a square tower topped
with a wrought-iron campanile, and it rises 32 meters above the valley.
You can explore the village that surrounds the fort, with its many narrow alleyways,
its discreet houses, its wash-house supplied with white-water, and its main square
lined with its 55 ancient plane trees, where you can play boules.
The associations organize, among other things, sports and cultural activities.
St. Laurent la Vernède also offers a quality of life that is highly prized
today; it's a good place to live in and to visit.
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| shops |
Bakery-pastry shop; grocery- tobacco shop-newsstand-café-restaurant;
farmer's cheese market; notary; garage; post office; insurance office; rental
of self-catering cottages; lumberjacks; wine cooperative; raising of game
and fowl; construction companies; plasterer; fireplace and pool installer;
antique and second-hand shops |
| heritage |
The fort; wash-house; church; dolmen |
| history |
You must go back to the year 1122 to discover the name
of St. Laurent on a document: "villa Sancti Laurentii."
In the early 13th century, Brémond I, Raimond I, and Elzias I, members
of the house of Uzès, were the first known lords of Saint Laurent.
The fort of St. Laurent la Vernède was built, starting in June 1445, by
several prominent families of the village. In 1446, they signed a contract before
a notary that assured them certain spaces in the fort, depending on their contribution
to the construction of the walls or "barris." They also demanded the
right to build houses inside it, which would be sheltered from the frequent wars
of the period.
The church, which certainly dates from the 12th century, became Protestant during
the 16th and 17th centuries. The Protestants of the neighboring villages who
had no church of their own came to St. Laurent, following the path of the Huguenots
whose name has remained in our collective memory.
When the Edict of Nantes was revoked, the Protestant church became Catholic once
again. All the rights granted to Protestants by Henri IV were taken away by Louis
XIV, and Protestants were also forced to abjure their religion.
1746 marks the beginning of a court case that lasted until the Revolution. It
opposed Joseph de Thomas, known as "le Grand Joseph," primicier of
Avignon, to the community over the communal forests.
The case was finished, after 42 years, on July 22, 1788, by an agreement that
gave the lord a fourth of the timber cut in the forest. But it was no longer
time for legal proceedings; the people of St. Laurent had something else to contend
with: the Revolution. |
| local products |
Wines produced in the cooperative:
Wines of Pays
d'Oc; Wines of the Pays du Gard
Fruits: apricots, cherries, figs, melons, plums.
Vegetables: asparagus, tomatoes, and zucchini.
Grains: hard wheat, soft wheat, barley, sunflower. |
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Between Ceze and Ardeche rivers
Cevennes foothills
In the Cotes du Rhone
Around Uzes
Near the Pont du Gard
Across the bridge from Avignon