Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade
Encyclopedia
Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade or Le Puy is a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...

 department in southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Geography

Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade is located 15 km (9.3 mi) North of Aix-en-Provence via the N96 and then the D561.

It is located between the ridges of the Trévaresse and the River Durance
Durance
The Durance is a major river in south-eastern France.Its source is in the south-western Alps, in Montgenèvre ski resort near Briançon and it flows south-west through the following départements and cities:* Hautes-Alpes: Briançon, Embrun.* Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Sisteron, Manosque.* Vaucluse:...

 which marks the natural boundary between the Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...

 and Bouches-du-Rhône départements. Opposite Le Puy, on the other bank of the river, is Pertuis
Pertuis
Pertuis is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Located south of the Luberon, this town is also near Aix-en-Provence, a famous town. Pertuis has existed since at least 981, while a castle was first built in the 12th century...

 in the South Luberon
Luberon
The Luberon or Luberon Massif , also called Lubéron, has a maximum altitude of 1,256 m and an area of about 600 km²...

.

The village is surrounded by vine fields and agricultural land, with arable crops on the plain and the vines on the hills. There is a beautiful walk up to the Sainte Réparade chapel and, on arrival at the summit, there are panoramic views over the Durance plain, the Luberon and the Alpilles
Alpilles
The Chaîne des Alpilles is a small range of mountains in Provence, southern France, located about south of Avignon at approximately .-Geography:The range is an extension of the much larger Luberon range...

 hills.

The nearby 450m hill La Quille or La Quiho, "the keel", has the ruins of the 8th century fortress, destroyed in the 17th century .

History

Carved stones show that Le Puy was settled in prehistoric times. The Celto Ligures Salluviens left traces during the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 and there was subsequent settlement by the Romans.

In the 11th century, the Archbishops of Aix who were lords of Puy built a fortified château and acquired neighbouring lands.

In 1155, Pons de Lubières bought his Puy estates from Hugues d'Eguilles.

In 1212, Gui de Fos bequeathed goods to the Archbishop and chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....

 
.

In 1268, the chapter of Aix gave the church of Puy to the Archbishop Vicedominis.

Around 1510, Le Puy suffered the Plague.

The fortress of La Quiho has been taken several times, first by Raymond de Turenne in 1391. Then in 1578, during the wars of religion, it was besieged for nearly three months, and was captured on the 7th of January 1579 by the lieutenants of the Count of Carcès, Gaspard de Pontevès, chief seneschal of Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

. It was taken again in 1591 by the Duke of Savoy and was eventually destroyed in 1612 by order of the Parliament of Provence.

Administration

style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em"| List of successive mayors
Date of election Identity Capacity
March 2001 Jean-Pierre Bertrand
Previous years' data not yet known.

Demography

Churches

Saint Réparade chapel 10th century or 11th century (restored in 1677, later in 1975). A procession to it takes place on the saint's feast day, the 8th of October.

Parish Church Sainte-Marie 18th century.

Vineyards

There are three in the area:

Miscellaneous

Puy derives from the Provençal
Provençal language
Provençal is a dialect of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence. In the English-speaking world, "Provençal" is often used to refer to all dialects of Occitan, but it actually refers specifically to the dialect spoken in Provence."Provençal" is also the...

 word "Puech", meaning an isolated hill.

"Sainte Réparade" is probably a corruption of "Sainte Réparate
Saint Reparata
Saint Reparata was a third century Christian virgin and martyr, possibly mythical, of Caesarea in Palestine. Sources vary as to her age - from 11 to 20-years old - though the Sainte-Réparte cathedral in Nice gives it as 15 . She was arrested for her faith and tortured during the persecution of...

", patron saint of the diocese of Nice, some of whose relics were removed in the 11th century to the parish church of "Saint Maurice of Puy" which later took the name "Chapelle Sainte Réparade". According to legend, Saint Réparade was a young girl martyred in Caesarea during the reign of the Emperor Decius
Decius
Trajan Decius , was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251. In the last year of his reign, he co-ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abrittus.-Early life and rise to power:...

 by a Roman Proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...

. Her body was laid in a boat and blown by the breath of angels to the bay now known as the Baie des Anges in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

.

External links (in French, unless otherwise indicated)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK