Riez: Difference between revisions

Riez
Riez
	Roman temple
	Coat of arms
	Location of Riez
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Arrondissement	Digne-les-Bains
Canton	Riez
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Michel Zorzan
Area 1	40 km2 (20 sq mi)
Population (2008)	1,760
• Density	44/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	04166 /04500
Elevation	473–680 m (1,552–2,231 ft) ; (avg. 520 m or 1,710 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 07:41, 15 November 2011

Riez is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.

Geography

The densely-built village sits where two small rivers join—the Auvestre and the Colostre—in a glacially-widened valley.

Population

Historical population of Riez
Year	1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851	1856
Population	2872	2784	2932	2867	3115	2870	2841	2835	2661	2572

Year	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896	1901	1906
Population	2386	2575	2564	2557	2381	2333	2111	1964	1813	1768

Year	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954	1962	1968	1975
Population	1721	1217	1292	1270	1250	1204	1108	1177	1379	1560

Year	1982	1990	1999	2008
Population	1680	1707	1667	1760

Economy

Riez is located in a district of fields of commercially-grown lavender, which support a honey-making industry. Truffles are found: there is a weekly truffle market on Wednesdays from late November through March.

History

The domed hill was the hillfort headquarters of the Reii a Celto-Ligurian tribe, who gave their name to the Roman community in the valley floor near it: Alebaece Reiorum it was called, then Alebaece Reiorum Appolinares^[1] (from the temple of Apollo of which four Corinthian columns yet stand). The name evolved to Regium (to the 8th century) then Regina (to the 11th century).

A bishop of Riez is known from an early date, though the first bishop is purely legendary. At the beginning of the 5th century, a certain St. Prosper of Reggio in Emilia figures in the history of Riez and was perhaps its bishop; however, the first certainly known bishop, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, is St. Maximus (433–460), who succeeded St. Honoratus as Abbot of Lérins and who, in 439, held a council at Riez with a view to effecting ecclesiastical reforms in the churches of southern Gaul. His name is commemorated in the Mont St-Maxime, which is surmounted by the Chapelle St-Maxim (a nunnery). His successor, St. Faustus of Riez (ca 461– ca. 493), also formerly Abbot of Lérins, was noted for his writings against Predestinationists; it was to him that Sidonius Apollinaris dedicated his Carmen Eucharisticum, in gratitude for hospitality received at Riez. Contumeliosus of Riez was deposed for adultery in 534. At a much later date Robert Ceneau (1530–1532), the pulpit orator afterwards Bishop of Avranches, and Gui Bentivoglio (1622–1625), the papal nuncio in France and a defender of French interests at Rome, who played an important role under Louis XIII, are also mentioned among the bishops of Riez. The diocese was suppressed on 29 November 1801, and its territory included in the diocese of Digne [1].

The 5th-century free-standing baptistery (its small dome rebuilt in the 12th century) is one of only a few surviving from Christian Gaul; it was built about 100 meters from the healing waters that had been sacred to Aesculapius, son of Apollo, to whom a dedicatory inscription was found in the 17th century. In the Christianized landscape Riez retained its reputation for healing waters into the 19th century [2]. The former cathedral, located on the axis of the baptistery, was constructed on top of a much larger Roman public building from the 1st–2nd century; it was destroyed at the end of the 15th century. Excavations have revealed a 5th-century structure in the field across the road east of the baptistery. The present small cathedral is dedicated to Nôtre-Dame-de-l'Assomption.

In the Middle Ages, the new structures of the town were gradually built away from the junction adjacent to the rivers to slightly higher ground because of a rising river. Alluvial silt deposited in the beds of the small rivers—a familiar result of deforestation in the rivers' upper watersheds—had raised the beds of the rivers and extended the floodplain. Deep alluvium still covers much of the Roman site of Reii Appolinares.

Sights

Today the baptistery contains a small archaeological museum of altars and funerary steles and a collection of Roman inscriptions, which include an inscribed taurobolium altar.^[2] There is a cylindrical milestone from the Aurelian Way. In the Hôtel de ville is the Natural History Museum of Provence.

References

INSEE

^ Pliny, III.4, calls it an oppidum, local inscriptions a colonia.
^ It was noted in situ across from the cathedral, by Aubin Louis Millin, Voyage dans Les Départemens du Midi de la France , vol. iii:49.

Catholic Encyclopedia: "Digne"
Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Alebaece Reiorum Apollinarium (Riez) Alpes de Haute-Provence, France"

External links

Town's website Template:Fr icon

[1] Pliny, III.4, calls it an oppidum, local inscriptions a colonia.

[2] It was noted in situ across from the cathedral, by Aubin Louis Millin, Voyage dans Les Départemens du Midi de la France , vol. iii:49.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 ==History==
 {{details|Ancient Diocese of Riez}}
-The domed hill was the hillfort headquarters of the Reii a [[Ligures|Celto-Ligurian]] tribe, who gave their name to the Roman community in the valley floor near it: ''Alebaece Reiorum'' it was called, then ''Alebaece Reiorum Appolinares''<ref>Pliny, III.4, calls it an ''[[oppidum]]'', local inscriptions a ''[[colonia]]''.</ref> (from the [[Roman temple|temple]] of [[Apollo]] of which four [[Corinthian order|Corinthian columns]] yet stand). The name evolved to ''Regium'' (to the 8th century) then ''Regina'' (to the 11th century).
+The domed hill was the hillfort headquarters of the Reii a [[Ligures|Celto-Ligurian]] tribe, who gave their name to the Roman community in the valley floor near it: ''Alebaece Reiorum'' it was called, then ''Alebaece Reiorum Appolinares''<ref>Pliny, III.4, calls it an ''[[oppidum]]'', local inscriptions a ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]''.</ref> (from the [[Roman temple|temple]] of [[Apollo]] of which four [[Corinthian order|Corinthian columns]] yet stand). The name evolved to ''Regium'' (to the 8th century) then ''Regina'' (to the 11th century).
 A [[bishop of Riez]] is known from an early date, though the first bishop is purely legendary. At the beginning of the 5th century, a certain St. Prosper of Reggio in Emilia figures in the history of Riez and was perhaps its bishop; however, the first certainly known bishop, according to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', is St. Maximus (433&ndash;460), who succeeded St. Honoratus as Abbot of [[Lérins Abbey|Lérins]] and who, in 439, held a council at Riez with a view to effecting ecclesiastical reforms in the churches of southern [[Gaul]]. His name is commemorated in the ''Mont St-Maxime'', which is surmounted by the ''Chapelle St-Maxim'' (a nunnery). His successor, St. [[Faustus of Riez]] (ca 461&ndash; ca. 493), also formerly Abbot of Lérins, was noted for his writings against [[Predestinationists]]; it was to him that [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] dedicated his ''Carmen Eucharisticum'', in gratitude for hospitality received at Riez. [[Contumeliosus of Riez]] was deposed for adultery in 534. At a much later date [[Robert Ceneau]] (1530&ndash;1532), the pulpit orator afterwards [[Bishop of Avranches]], and [[Guido Bentivoglio|Gui Bentivoglio]] (1622&ndash;1625), the [[papal nuncio]] in France and a defender of French interests at Rome, who played an important role under [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]], are also mentioned among the bishops of Riez. The diocese was suppressed on 29 November 1801, and its territory included in the [[diocese of Digne]] [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/ddign.html].