Aimargues

Aimargues is a charming village located in the heart of the Camargue region of Gard (14th Grand Site de France) between the Costières de Nîmes to the north and the Camargue lagoons to the south.
The village appears very early in medieval texts, at the beginning of the 9th century (7 January 813 – Donation of Braidingus to Aniane: … In villa Armacianicus quae sita in Litoraria, infra pago Nemausense…) under the name of Vila Armacianicus, probably named after its owner Armatius. Furthermore, archaeology has established that there was a very dense and structured human occupation dating back to Roman times.
The Gallo-Roman occupation was characterised by a settlement surrounded by a network of farms.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the population of the surrounding area concentrated around the castrum (feudal stronghold), forming what would become the village of Aimargues, to the detriment of the old villages, which were abandoned.
This castle, built on a hilltop, stood at the crossroads of two important routes: the salt road and the pilgrims' road connecting Mauguio and Languedoc to Arles and Provence.

Owned by the d'Uzès family, the town was the capital of the lower Vistrenque region under the Ancien Régime. It was the seat of an archpriesthood.
The town was defended by ramparts built in the mid-14th century. The Peace of Alès, which ended the Wars of Religion, was followed in July 1629 by a visit from Louis XIII, accompanied by Richelieu, who ordered the destruction of the strongholds' defences. The ramparts of Aimargues were sent to Aigues Mortes to be used as building material.

Heritage:
- The public garden: formerly the site of the castle of the lords of Aimargues, a public garden was built here in 1975. In 1990, a bust of Fanfonne Guillierme, the grande dame of Camargue, cattle breeder and friend of the Félibres, was erected. This bust was moved to the entrance of the school of the same name in 2012, to make way for an equestrian statue of the "grande dame" surrounded by her two "biou d'or" (best fighting bulls).

- The Town Hall square and the Church of Saint-Saturnin and Sainte-Artemidora: adjoining the Town Hall and the Post Office, the market halls are in line with the façades of these three buildings, in the old centre of the town on a square where the church is also located.
The church, built in 1869, is in both neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque styles and is topped by a 48-metre-high bell tower. The façade bears an inscription that is unusual in France: "French Republic. Liberty, equality, fraternity".

- The old wash house: the wash house was built around 1875 to make the daily tasks of the washerwomen easier. Before the wash house was built, they had to walk 3 kilometres to wash their laundry in the Vidourle river. It consists of two large basins and could accommodate 60 washing machines.