Uzès

The hilltop town of Uzès lies in the southern French Gard department, in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon, some 25 kilometres north of Nîmes and 40 kilometres to the west of Avignon. It has a population of around 8000. Uzès' early history is closely linked to the construction of the nearby Pont du Gard, part of a Roman aqueduct that supplied water to the flourishing city of Nîmes. The Roman Catholic diocese of Uzès was a bastion of religious tolerance as far back as the 5th century AD, when the town fostered a thriving Jewish community. Religious influence on the cloth-manufacturing centre and its environs was less benign in the 16th century, when the fiercely Protestant population destroyed many of the town's Roman Catholic churches during the Wars of Religion. Uzès was also known for its dukedom - the title of Duke of Uzès was the highest order of nobility in the land, directly after the princes of the blood. Overlayering sacral architecture characterises Uzès to this day - a 17th century Capuchin chapel built as a resting place for the dukes' remains is located on the site of a temple dedicated to the first Roman emperor Augustus. Modern Uzès traces its ancient walls in a circuit of boulevards, homes of wealthy 16th-century textile merchants bear witness to the town's prosperous past and the 11th century Tour Fenestrelle, or window tower, is a stunning example of Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture.