Historical tour through the streets of Saint-Pons: in the footsteps of a hilltop village and its emblematic monuments
A TOUR OF THE VILLAGE:
Dimanche 17 septembre 2023, 10h00Passé
©PR2003
A TOUR OF THE VILLAGE: - Le Planas (Place de l'Église). At an altitude of 135 meters, this square is located directly on a bank of limestone rock dating from the Cretaceous to Urgonian facies, which constitutes the base of the village and gives it its name (the calm or the camp = arid limestone plateau). To note: - The fountain decorated with the statue of the eponymous saint: Pontius, a Roman soldier martyred in Cimiez near Nice in 258. - The war memorial erected in 1922 in memory of the 17 Saint-Ponais who fell for France during the First World War.
- The castle (presbytery). The castle, also known as the Presbytery, is the only visible remnant of the fortified enclosure, called the barry, which once housed the old village. The primitive rampart, probably dating from the twelfth century, was restored during the Hundred Years War to protect the population from incursions by the truckers of the big companies and the ravages of epidemics. The village was nevertheless invaded and looted twice: in 1382 during the revolt of the Tuchins, then in 1587 by the Corsican troops of Colonel d'Ornano, then in the service of the League. The exact date of the destruction of the rampart remains uncertain; it is likely that the stones were gradually removed for reuse in the reconstruction of the dwelling houses. Rue de la Tournelle, located near the castle, takes its name from the southwest corner tower that stood at this place and whose remains survived until 1830. Some wall debris is still visible in the cellars of the surrounding houses. Since the Albigensian crusade, the place and the seigneury of Saint-Pons belonged to the bishop of Uzès. From 1546 to 1606 they passed to Honoré Le Chantre, former doctor of the queen of Navarre, who thus became the owner of the castle. His descendants ceded it in 1722 to the community of Saint-Pons.
The castle, which served as a presbytery until 1985, is often still referred to under this name. Its rooms are reserved for associations. - The church: The present building was built in 1866 along the lines of the old church dating from the 12th century. Work of the architect Bègue d'Uzès, like most contemporary churches in the area, that of Saint-Pons stands out in the distance by its high location and harmonious proportions. The interior was restored between 1987 and 1992.
- The square: True heart of the old village. According to oral tradition, it was from the balcony above the rear gate of the castle that public announcements were made, on Sunday after Mass, for all the events governing the life of the village community: tax collection, auction of the communal oven, sale of mulberry leaves, keeping of vines, aglanage of pigs, etc. The street of En-Viel which follows recalls by its name the age of the place.
- Place de la Pintoune: To take a pintoune is to take a pint, in other words to have a good drink. The origin of this evocative name is not known. The layout of the square corresponds to that of the old cemetery where until 1876 the dead of the village were buried.
- The large fountain: The date of 1784 engraved in the stone is that of the reconstruction of the fountain. This one receives by gravity the water which deaf of the ground at some 1100 m of there at the place called the Boulidouïre. In the municipal archives, we find the trace, in 1406 already, of a project to build a wooden pipe to bring this water to the village. The drinking troughs were intended for draught animals, mules or horses, and sheep herds formerly numerous in the village and one of which still remained in the early 1980s. The overflow of the drinking troughs flows into the three basins of the wash house; the water is then recovered for watering the gardens located downstream.
- Rue du porche and rue des remparts: De la Grande-Fontaine go back to take the vaulted passage of rue du Porche. At the entrance to this street was once one of the two gates of the village, the Postelle, which the herds used to go to the watering hole or pasture. A perpendicular alley gave access to the communal oven that operated there until 1871. It extended to the left by a small covered street, the Endrounette, whose arched entrance is still visible in the recess of the wall. A butcher’s shop occupied the house located under the vault at the corner of the street on the right. Go to the Rue des Remparts. Coming out of the vault, we find on the left the ruins of the Court house where stood the old presbytery, the Clastre. It became the «town house» at the end of the 17th century, and later housed the first school in the village. The two houses that face are among the most beautiful in the town. Their construction probably dates back to the end of the 16th century, that is to say after the destruction of the village by the troops of the League in 1587. The one on the left (Equeter house) is distinguished externally by its corner tower that houses a staircase. The pottery inserted in the facade wall served as nesting boxes to attract birds for the enjoyment of the owners. The back wall, on the church side, where the trace of an old arched opening and a murderous, could be the rest of a primitive rampart contemporary with the construction of the first church (11th-12th century). The house on the right (Thévenon house) with its arched door and mullioned windows was still recently called «the castle». In the second part of the seventeenth century, it was the residence of a notable of Saint-Pons, Dominique d'Arènes, lord of Ribas and co-lord of Laudun. Antoine d'Arènes, probably the son of the previous one, subsequently played a role in the settlement of Community affairs. The inscription Ribasse is engraved on a stone embedded in the right wall of the large room on the first floor. According to legend, the square tower on the second floor was raised to allow the owner to monitor his land.
- Place du Revelin: A ravelin or rèvelin is a fortification designed to protect the door of a fortified enclosure; by extension, this name often refers to the door itself. The present street was barred by the wall which formed at this place a recess sheltering the main door of the old village, which was consequently turned towards the east. The square that owes its name once included a bakery and a café. A cross was already erected there in 1783; the one that stands today was erected in 1936.
- Rue de la Magnanerie: The name of this street reminds us that for a long time the cultivation of silkworms was practiced in the village, as evidenced by the mulberry trees that remain in the courtyards, gardens and streets. The farmhouse that forms the left side of the first section of the street is the old farm of the lord of Saint-Pons; a few decades ago, it was still used as a sheepfold. Ms. Vincent-Furic has set up her painter’s studio there. The main building of the former mill borders the second part of the street. The company, founded and operated by the Vignal family, harvested cocoons raised in the nearby silk mills to work natural silk. It operated from 1840 to 1884 and employed about thirty spinners. The installation later transformed into a simple smothering of cocoons remained until the interwar period. The chimney of the steam boiler that provided the necessary energy had to be cut down in 1981. Turn around and reach the Rue du Levant by passing under the vault.
- Rue du Levant: The street is remarkable for the unique panorama it offers the visitor: - to the far right, beyond the buildings of the spinning mill converted into a farm, the hill of the oppidum of Gaujac and the valley of the Veyre; - above the hill of Costes hiding the village of Connaux, from which only the bell tower emerges, the Castellas de Saint-Victor-la-Coste looms over the sky; - then the Tave valley and, from the nearest to the furthest, the factories of Ardoise, the hamlet of Palus, the remains of the keep of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the plateau of Vaucluse that closes the horizon; - further left, the village of Tresques with in the background the plateau of Camp de César and Ventoux; - in the gap of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, the castle of Gicon; in the distance, the Lance mountain and the heights of Diois; - finally, to the far left, the wooded hills of Boussargues.
- The court of the king: In the old cadastre, the compound, the uncovered part of the built properties, was referred to as the court. Most of the land in Saint-Pons belonged to the bishop of Uzès, to whom the community paid an annual fee of 150 pounds. On the other hand, certain districts later acquired belonged to the king’s sphere; as such, the community paid tribute and a royalty to the barony of Bagnols. Conversely, the viguier of Bagnols paid the village royalties for the commoner lands belonging to the king. This was probably the case for a property that was located there.
- Place de la Pompette: The square owes its name to the water pump installed there in 1885. This fountain received water from the water repository located at the highest point of the village, itself fed by the source of Pont-Roux. It disappeared in 1962 after the private houses were connected to the water distribution network.