The first official point of interest was one of the
buildings immediately opposite our apartment.
The decorative windows and turret were mentioned as significant
architectural features: and to think we look out at them every day from our
bedroom window.
The next feature was the cloisters beneath the cafe which we
look down on every day. What a shame their coffee is not to the same standard as their history and architecture.
The next two photos show outside and inside images of a
famous old building (Hôtel Verdier-Allut) in nearby Rue de la Republic, where
the Christofides family (our new friends and fellow travellers from Camberwell) are currently
residing. The building was described as
"a beautiful private mansion from the renaissance era, with decorative
mouldings, mullion doors and Henri II style windows". It provides a good example of a building in
an old city that you may walk past every day without realising it had a very
impressive history. The lesson is to
look up, to look in, and to do some research.
The tour then moved on to the spiritual centre of Uzès,
the Place aux Herbes, marked as the blue rectangle on the map. It was satisfying to learn more about several notable
buildings and the undercroft areas, in addition to what the Place is best
known for – its plane trees, fountain, and surrounding cafés.
From here we walked west to view the Esplanade (including the WWI
memorial), and the nearby protestant church, where we learnt that Uzès was a
very significant protestant city in the 16th century religious wars,
during which many of the city’s churches were destroyed. Also in this area are several
buildings which were home to a thriving silk spinning industry in the 18th century. Uzès specialised in silk stocking production, with silkworm breeding and silk production, as well as garment manufacture, carried out locally.
Coming back to the ring road, we then walked passed Eglise
St Etienne (orange dot). It was built in 1767, on the site of another church destroyed during the religious wars. This church has been
somewhat of an enigma to us, as it is an impressive structure that we have a view of from top bedroom, but
to date the solitary entrance door has never been open when we have tried it.
Behind the church we were led to the house of Charles Gide, a
leading French economist in the late 19th century, and famous son of
Uzès. Wikipedia lists him as a “champion
of the cooperative movement”, so he would be proud to see the numerous
agriculture cooperatives still in operation around Uzès, and France more
generally. The Gide family name is
commonly seen or heard in Uzès, with Charles’ nephew Andre also
being famous – in his case as an author and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 1947.
We then turned left back into the heart of the old city. Walking inside the ring road is generally very pleasant, as although cars can and do come in, they are limited to certain streets, and are very modest in number (generally shop owners, tradesmen, and parents doing school drop off and pick up). We only require an occasional "Attention, la voiture!" or, if Xavier is doing the warning, a loud and urgent "Car!"
Along Rue Paul Foussat we noted some very colourful metalwork which took our fancy (Elle was most impressed with the surprising comfort of the chair).
We then continued north via Rue Port Royal, past the
entrance to the Jardin Medieval (about which we will blog separately), and through several other beautiful streets.
We then headed east to the 3 o’clock position on the ring road to Cathédrale St Théodorit (blue dot), notable for its impressive ironwork (a key
Uzès skill in days past) and the large, well-maintained organ.
Alongside the Cathederal is the Tour Fénestrelle, so named because of its "windows", and often referred to as a mini Leaning Tower. (It is T4 on the map above.)
It is the smallest but prettiest of the famous four medieval towers of Uzès; the others are the Belmonde Tower (T1 above - in the Duche D’Uzès), the Bishop’s Tower (T2), and the
King’s Tower (T3) (both in the Jardin Medieval).
Next stops, not far away, were the old Bishopric (now
Municipal Museum) and the Hôtel Du Baron De Castille (with its impressive
columns).
We then headed back towards the centre of the clock, noting
several lovely streets and buildings, including the Hôtel des Monnaies (where
bishops minted coins) and the Hôtel Chambon De La Tour (which now houses a
luxury hotel, and Table D’Uzès, one of the very nice restaurants where we have
had dinner ... to be discussed in another blog post).
The tour concluded at the official centre of Uzès, Place du
Duché, home to Le Duché D’Uzès (Duke’s Palace) and the Hôtel De Ville.
