Sites of historical interest
Bearing witness to the faith
The religious heritage of the valley is remarkable and reflects many centuries of architectural tradition. As well as the Abbeys of Aniane and Gellone, founded in the 7th century, the Hérault Valley witnessed the building of a large number of parish churches during the Romanesque period.
Most of these are deeply embedded in a tight network of settlements (St-Jean-de-Fos, Saint-Amans de Pouzols, Saint-Jacques du Pouget, St-Jean de Jonquières… ). But there are also isolated chapels, gathering places for a population that lived in widely-scattered mas (farmsteads) (Saint-Sylvestre de Montcalmès, Saint-Martin du Cardonnet, Saint-Géniés de Litenis…).
Although it remained for a long time true to its Romanesque roots, the church of Saint-Pargoire, with its intersecting ribbed vault, is nevertheless emblematic of the birth of rural Gothic architecture in the valley.
The church of Notre Dame de Grâce in Gignac, however, is an example of classical architecture, bringing together elegance, balance and grandeur. Alongside it there is an extraordinary Way of the Cross made up of 14 chapels dating from the 17th and 19th centuries.
Most of these are deeply embedded in a tight network of settlements (St-Jean-de-Fos, Saint-Amans de Pouzols, Saint-Jacques du Pouget, St-Jean de Jonquières… ). But there are also isolated chapels, gathering places for a population that lived in widely-scattered mas (farmsteads) (Saint-Sylvestre de Montcalmès, Saint-Martin du Cardonnet, Saint-Géniés de Litenis…).
Although it remained for a long time true to its Romanesque roots, the church of Saint-Pargoire, with its intersecting ribbed vault, is nevertheless emblematic of the birth of rural Gothic architecture in the valley.The church of Notre Dame de Grâce in Gignac, however, is an example of classical architecture, bringing together elegance, balance and grandeur. Alongside it there is an extraordinary Way of the Cross made up of 14 chapels dating from the 17th and 19th centuries.
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