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Puisserguier (Puècherguier)
Puisserguier is less than half an hours drive
from the Mediterranean coast, and 15 minutes away from the large town of
Beziers, known in the area as the capital of wine.
The village is picturesque and the inhabitants are warm and
friendly. There you will find Banks, Post Office, Bars,
Restaurants, Chemists, Bakers, Butchers, Grocers.
Many good wine producers are based here, and it now, also has an olive
oil producer where it is possible to purchase locally grown olives and
the oil produced from them.
It is a bustling village, and has a large market on Friday mornings. A
craft and wine fair is held here during the last weekend of July.
It has a history that goes back to medieval times and belongs to a type
of village called “the circulades” This kind of architecture dates
from the Romanesque period where the streets are built in concentric
circles around the base of the chateau'
The chateau at
Puisserguier has a long history, Built over the ruins of a
roman fort, it became an important fortification during the
12th century and dominated the area between Agde, and
Narbonne, and as far back as St Pons. There were various
fortifications surrounding the chateau, and some of these
are still visible today. The chateau is open for visits
Monday and Wednesday from 2.30p.m. to
6p.m., more frequently during the summer.
In the Rue Parmentier and the Impasse Lapeyronie you will find signs of
old wells that served the village. These wells are rumoured to connect to underground
passages that communicated with the castle at nearby Maureilhan and the
Priory at St Christophe, just outside the village.
The Church of St Paul dates from the 14th Century and contains an organ
that reached its 100 hundredth year in 2000.
Just outside the village in the direction of Cazedarnes lies the Priory
of St Christophe dating from the 17th Century. Lost in the Pinewoods it
is now only used once a year. It was thought by the villagers that St
Christophe protected them, and their vineyards, that are so important to
the economy of Puisserguier.
It is said that Clementine, a monk, who came from Puisserguier
discovered the small oranges that bears his name in north Africa. One of
the roads in the village bears his name. He was later to become Saint
Clementine.
The Town Hall or Marie is housed, in what was an imposing family
mansion. Many houses are reminders of the wealth of the village in times
gone bye.
Puisserguier sat on one of the many pilgrim routes that crossed France
to the Cathedral of St Jacques du Campostelle in northwestern Spain. In
the Rue de la Coquille it is possible to see, set in the wall of one of
the houses, a shell sculptured in stone, (the sign of Saint Jacques). It
was normal for the pilgrims to mark their route in this manner, but few
of these symbols survive.
Puisserguier is typical of many of the wine villages of the Herault, and
time should be set aside for exploring on foot. Many surprises await
you, and if you make the effort to speak to the locals you will be made
very welcome.
An exceptional burial site from
the Iron Age (9th-17th century BC) in Puisserguier, Hérault.
A team from the
National Institute for Research in Preventive Archaeology (Inrap)
worked in Puisserguier, after the discovery of an iron age
burial site during excavations for the building of a new
supermarket .
A Remarkably Preserved Necropolis
Used without interruption from the IXth to the
end of the VIIth century BC, the Puisserguier
necropolis was amazing because of its perfectly preserved
state. It contained 235 tombs that offered insights into the
funerary practices and the social organization of an iron
age cemetery, as well as showing the indigenous identity of
communities that lived in the south of Gaul just before the
beginning of the Greek colonisation.
Only adults are were cremated in this burial site. In the
Languedoc, cremation was the exclusive practice at that
time, and continued until the Roman conquest. Marked by
mounds of earth and stone, the tombs were constructed as
deep circular graves that were closed by a heavy stone slab.
They were covered by a circular or rectangular stone
structure and separated by small paths. Situated in the
heart of the site were two tombs that had a more complex and
important construction, indicating the high rank of the
deceased.
Funerary practices in the Indigenous Communities
Generally, found at the bottom of each grave, was a burial
vase in which the ashes of the deceased and his personal
belongings (small knives, bracelets, toilette articles,
clothing accessories, fibulas, and harness pieces…), as well
as accompanying vases, were placed. The burial vase and its
contents correspond to the personal effects of the deceased.
There where accompanying vases containing general items that
related to the collective practices of the group or family.
In Puisserguier, each tomb contained on average 20 vases,
and some of them up to 55. In total, the number of vases can
be estimated at 4000, and 600 small metallic objects.
This is one of the first times in France that such a
complete Iron Age burial site has been found. The first
results show that after the burials, the burial place
continued to be frequented and taken care of. The care given
to the construction of the tombs, the good management of
burial space and also the exceptional quality of
preservation, make Puisserguier’s Iron Age burial site a
national treasure.
http://quandpuisserguiers-eveille.midiblogs.com/
LA MANIERE
Three kilometers north of Puisserguier is La Maniere a tiny hamlet set amongst the garrigue and vines of one of the largest wine growing regions of France. It forms a part of the administration area of Puisserguier, with magnificent views towards the mountains of the Caroux.
Within 15 minutes drive of Puisserguier, are the villages of Capestang and St Chinian.
St CHINIAN
Saint Chinian is a bustling village dating back to 825 when Saint Anian founded a monastery, possibly on the site of what today is the Marie (Town Hall). The monastery prospered and with it the village that had grown up around it.The village survived the Albigensian Crusades relatively unscathed and emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries as a center
for the manufacture of high quality cloth. During the French
revolution the abbey was dissolved and its buildings put to
new uses. The former abbey church is now the village hall
and hosts everything from exhibitions to village dances. If
you enter the Marie you will find an ornately painted
staircase leading up to the first floor. In the courtyard
behind the village hall, you can still see the remains of
the cloisters.
The revolution put an end to the cloth trade, and the village had to rely on wine for its fortune. After the phylloxera crisis of the 1860’s the Languedoc region was producing huge amounts of cheap wine. It was not until towards the middle of the 1900s that the vignerons began to concentrate on quality rather than quantity. Achieving VDQS status in 1945, St Chinian acquired AOC status in 1982. The appellation area covers twenty communes and produces primarily red and rose. The vines grow on hillsides facing the sea at an altitude of 100 – 200m. St Chinian wines have a very long-standing reputation going back as far as the fourteenth century. Today you will often see St Chinian wine for sale in your local supermarket
St Chinian has a lot to offer its visitors. If you are interested in nature you will find endless possibilities for walking. Several times a year there are craft and wine fairs in the village and on Sundays there is one of the biggest markets in the area. North of St Chinian are the Caroux Mountains where you will find Salvatat.
ABBAYE DE FONTCAUDE
Close by is the Romanesque Abbey of Fontcaude. Surrounding the Abbaye and hidden in the countryside are many dolmens and menhirs, relics of the megalithic era. Each December an evening of traditional Christmas Carols, sung by the local English community takes place.
CAPESTANG
Capestang is famous as a staging post for boating holidaymakers on the Canal du Midi and its Cathedral size church. The majority of visitors to Capestang first arrive by boat and then, whilst shopping for supplies discover that Capestang has a lot to offer. The local Estate Agents are a magnet for many tourists and has resulted in the area being a very popular re-settlement location for many nationalities.
It's the 13th century Collegiate church of St Etienne of Capestang that people see long before getting to the village. It towers over the village. In the centre of the town there is the ramains of the 14th century castle that was built for the Archbishops of Narbonne. There are many shops and restaurants within the village and the Basin on the Canal du Midi is one of the most picturesque.
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