Tave river valley

There are no large cities or small towns here, only villages that have preserved an amazing charm.

Gaujac and the oppidum  Visit of :  Castle of Gaujac  Chapels of St. Saturnin and St. Jean, both dating from the 11th century  A former well, Le Poux, from before 1700  The Cross on the place de la Liberté  Former wash-house from 1885  17th-century church  Bassin Rouvière from 1840 (Marjolet)  The Oppidum (a fortified site on an elevated location), overlooking a vast plain in which the Tave and the Veyre Rivers meet

Connaux  The village of Connaux was founded by Benedictine monks from St-Pierre-de-Castres. Towards the middle of the 13th century, Connaux mostly consisted of a vast marsh. The Benedictines went down into the plain and built an enclosure with four towers on top of a rock. They built the first houses of Connaux around a modest 13th-century Romano-Byzantine church.

Tresques  Visit of :  The Romanesque chapel of St. Martin de Jussan, listed as a historical monument.  La Tour de Guet, known as the Sarrasine.  The chapel of St. Pierre de Castres.  Ruins of the chapel of the Madeleine.  The Château was originally a Roman fort.  The fountains were built in 1832.

Le pin  Le Pin is a very small district situated halfway between Bagnols-sur-Cèze and Uzès. Two charming rivers flow through the area: the Tave, a tributary of the Cèze, and the Veyre, which flows into the Tave.  Visit of :  the Church from the early 19th century, whose interior was recently renovated.  The municipal wash-house, supplied from a spring.  The shaded square and fountain in front of the town hall.

Cavillargues  Cavillargues has been populated since prehistoric times, as is proven by a great dolmen topped with a stone that is four meters long and two and a half meters wide. The Roman civilization also left visible traces. The site of a Gallo-Roman farm is currently being excavated.  Visit of :  The castle of la Fare, reconstructed in 1570, has a Renaissance façade and a winding staircase.  The castle of Nicolay, begun in 1590, is flanked by two round towers, and it features a banistered staircase and a monumental Renaissance doorway.  The church that dates from 1861.  The Ermitage de Saint-Sépulcre, a small, recently renovated Romanesque chapel. It is currently the object of two pilgrimages.

Saint laurent la vernede  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 will 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.

La bastide d'engras  The seigneury belonged to the counts of Toulouse until 1209 and was part of the bishop of Uzès' estate until 1565. It was then granted to the La Fare family, and in 1746 it was sold to the Thomas family, who owned it until 1954.  This small town is one of the most ancient fortified towns in France.