Aigues-Mortes
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Coordinates: 43°34′03″N 4°11′36″E / 43.5675°N 4.19333333333°E
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Commune of Aigues-Mortes |
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 City walls |
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| Location | |
  Aigues-Mortes
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Languedoc-Roussillon |
| Department | Gard |
| Arrondissement | Nîmes |
| Canton | Aigues-Mortes |
| Mayor | Jeannot René (2001–2008) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 0–3 m (0–9.8 ft) (avg. 1 m/3.3 ft) |
| Land area1 | 57.78 km2 (22.31 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 6,012 (1999) |
| - Density | 104 /km² (270 /sq mi) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 30003/ 30220 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Aigues-Mortes (Occitan: Aigas Mòrtas, i.e. "dead waters") is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved.
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[edit] History
The foundation of the city is attributed to Marius Caius, around 102 BC, but the first document mentioning a place called "Ayga Mortas" (dead waters) dates from the tenth century.
Louis IX of France (Saint Louis) rebuilt the port in the 13th century as France's only Mediterranean port at that time. It was the embarkation point of the Seventh Crusade (1248) and the Eighth Crusade (1270).
The 1,650 metres of city walls were built in two phases: the first during the reign of Philippe III the Bold and the second during the reign of Philippe IV the Fair, who had the enclosure completed between 1289 and 1300. The Constance Tower, completed in 1248, is all that remains of the castle built in Louis IX's reign. It was designed to be impregnable with its six-metre-thick walls. A spiral staircase leads to the different levels of the tower.
From 1575 to 1622, Aigues-Mortes was one of the eight safe havens granted to the Protestants. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 caused severe repression of Protestantism, which was marked in Languedoc and the Cévennes in the early 18th century by the "Camisard War". Like other towers in the town, from 1686 onwards the Constance Tower was used as a prison for the Huguenots who refused to convert to Roman Catholicism. In 1703, Abraham Mazel, leader of the Camisards, managed to escape with sixteen companions.
In 1893 a conflict between the French and the Italians who worked in the salt evaporation ponds of Peccais erupted, killing nine and injuring hundreds on the Italian side (Enzo Barnabà, Le sang des marais, Marseille, 1993).
[edit] Geography
Aigues-Mortes is located in the Petite Camargue.
By road, Aigues-Mortes is about 35 km (21.75 mi) from Nîmes, préfecture (administrative capital) of the Gard département and 30 km (18.65 mi) from Montpellier, préfecture of the Hérault département. As the crow flies, Aigues-Mortes is 32.5 km (20.19 mi) from Nîmes and 26 km (16.16 mi) from Montpellier.
A rail branch line from Nîmes passes through Aigues-Mortes to its terminus on the coast at Grau-du-Roi. This line also transports sea salt.
[edit] Economy
While tourism plays a large part of the town's economy, wine, asparagus and sea salt are also important staples. In the surrounding countryside, bulls and Camargue horses are bred.
[edit] Literary references
- Ernest Hemingway's third major posthumous work, the novel The Garden of Eden, takes place in Aigues-Mortes.
- Wayne Koestenbaum set his 2004 novel Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes in Aigues Mortes.
- Michael Moorcock's Hawkmoon novels feature Aigues Mortes as the site of Castle Brass and capital city of a futuristic "Kamarg".
[edit] Gallery
 Tour de Constance |
 Ramparts of the town of Aigues-Mortes. |
 Ramparts of the town of Aigues-Mortes. |
 Aigues-Mortes wall. |
 Mounds of sea salt seen from Aigues-Mortes wall. |
 A view from the Tour de Constance. Salt "hills" can be seen in the distance. |
 The wall around Aigues Mortes. |
[edit] External links
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