Villages in the wine growing plain

Despite the strictly medieval appearance of the village, Gignac would appear to be named after Gennius, the owner of a Gallo-Roman villa. The town is situated at the crossing-point of the two main transhumance routes and the salt-road that runs between the coastal plain, the Larzac plateau and the Séranne Massif. The first settlement was situated a few hundred yards from the present town and was to survive until the Wars of Religion.

The historic centre is a thirteenth-century addition, at the foot of a castrum dating from 1094, of which only a square tower remains. This ‘Gignac Tower’ is an impressive medieval relic, visible for miles from the plain and is one of the most significant pieces of military architecture in the entire canton. It stands on a steep promontory overlooking the site and was part of a fortified group of buildings that served as a Protestant citadel in the 16th century.

The first church, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, overlooking the road to Montpellier, was built between 1360 and 1373 after a miracle attributed to the Virgin who is said to have restored sight, hearing and speech to a man who was blind, deaf and mute. It was destroyed during the Wars of Religion and rebuilt during the first half of the 17th century by order of Louis XIII after the dismantling of the Protestant citadel.

Gignac is one of the important towns in the Hérault Valley.
It is the administrative centre for 21 communes and a place where history mingles with a tradition in legend. It is a place where belief in the intervention of the Virgin Mary is strong, but every year they also celebrate ‘Ane Martin’ the donkey which is the totem and protector of the village, for he is said to have saved the people of the village from attack by the Saracens in 719. Gignac has a wealth of built heritage, with medieval towers, churches 17th century private houses, bridges, washhouses and canals; a town whose splendours are both medieval and modern.

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