| In the 13th century, the king
Louis IX, who was looking for a port on the Mediterranean
Sea from which to send off his Crusaders, set his sights on
Aigues-Mortes. From then on, the town was built up around
this project. A dyked up road croosed the insalubrious marshes
and the population grew. Towers sprang up like mushrooms after
the rain to protect the city. |
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The French Revolution, mostly
welcomed by Aigues-Mortes, is not long in plunging the inhabitants
into passionate political conflicts, bringing with it a regime
governing through terror and denunciations and refuting the
freedom of religion. At the same time, marshes' exhalations
provoked serious epidemics.
These were dark periods, which the 19th century worked to
appease, to finally, at the start of the 20th century, recognize
Aigues-Mortes as a renowned tourist station. Ennobled by the
mastery of its saltworks and its heritage - classed as a historic
monument - it inspires today a charming and sweet life in
this little corner of the Camargue, on the shores of the Mediterranean. |
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In 1272 the king Saint-Louis
began the construction of the city walls, an enclosure
with a 1640m perimeter, which still encircles Aigues-Mortes
today.
At the end of the 16th century, the Wars of Religion
began to rage in France, affecting this city, as well.
Between the introduction of Calvinism which engendered,
in this region, many conflicts over two centuries and
the constant defense of the saltworks, the city battled
against the tumults of history. The Constance Tower
became a prison dreaded by the "preachers"
and the "inspired" at the time of the abolition
of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and up until 1767. |
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