Saint-Gilles, Gard

Saint-Gilles (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ ʒil]; Provençal: Sant Geli; English: St. Giles) or Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.

Saint-Gilles
Commune
West portal of the abbey church
Coat of arms
Location of Saint-Gilles
Saint-Gilles Show map of France Saint-Gilles Show map of Occitanie
Coordinates: 43°40′43″N 4°25′54″E
Country	France
Region	Occitania
Department	Gard
Arrondissement	Nîmes
Canton	Saint-Gilles
Intercommunality	CA Nîmes Métropole
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Eddy Valadier[1]
Area 1	153.73 km2 (59.36 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	14,427
• Density	94/km2 (240/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	30258 /30800
Elevation	0–116 m (0–381 ft) (avg. 7 m or 23 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

It is the second most populous commune in the Nîmes metropolitan area.

History

The abbey of Saint-Gilles was founded during the seventh century traditionally by the hermit Saint Giles (Latin Ægidius), whose relics the abbey possessed. The commune formed around the nucleus of the abbey, which was the first stopping point for pilgrims bound for Santiago de Compostela in Spain, who were following the via Tolosana that led from Arles to Toulouse and crossed the Pyrenees to join other routes at Puente La Reina, thence to Santiago along the Via Compostelana. The former abbey church was listed in 1998 among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. The abbey church's west portal is among the most beautiful of the great Romanesque portals and a definitive example of the Provençal Romanesque. The church has three naves and a famed spiral staircase of cantilevered stone steps (in the now destroyed part of the church). During the French Wars of Religion the Protestants fortified themselves within the abbey, which was severely damaged.

The shrine of Saint Gilles, located in the crypt of the church, is the subject of pilgrimage in particular by women wishing to become pregnant or dealing with infertility.

Saint-Gilles was the birthplace of Guy Foulques, Pope Clement IV (died 1268), whose natal house is now a museum of the archaeology, ethnology and ornithology of the Camargue.

Saint-Gilles is more recently the birthplace of the author Georges-Jean Arnaud (born 1928).

Geography

Saint-Gilles is located at the northern edge of the Petite Camargue, between Arles (15 km) and Nîmes (16 km). With a land area of 153.73 km² (59.355 sq mi), it is rather large by continental French standards, although many of the communes in this part of France are among the largest in area in Metropolitan France.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 5,000 —     1800 5,047 +0.13% 1806 5,212 +0.54% 1821 5,600 +0.48% 1831 5,561 −0.07% 1836 5,797 +0.83% 1841 5,635 −0.57% 1846 5,832 +0.69% 1851 5,985 +0.52% 1856 6,132 +0.49% 1861 6,365 +0.75% 1866 6,804 +1.34% 1872 6,211 −1.51% 1876 6,302 +0.36% 1881 5,268 −3.52% 1886 5,503 +0.88% 1891 5,947 +1.56% 1896 6,110 +0.54%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 6,381 +0.87% 1906 6,300 −0.26% 1911 6,258 −0.13% 1921 5,924 −0.55% 1926 5,613 −1.07% 1931 5,833 +0.77% 1936 5,325 −1.81% 1946 5,335 +0.02% 1954 5,789 +1.03% 1962 6,721 +1.88% 1968 8,742 +4.48% 1975 8,679 −0.10% 1982 9,887 +1.88% 1990 11,304 +1.69% 1999 11,626 +0.31% 2007 13,211 +1.61% 2012 13,646 +0.65% 2017 13,607 −0.06%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968–2017)[4]

Transportation

The Nîmes-Alès-Camargue-Cévennes Airport, sometimes called Garons Airport, is located on the territory of the commune.

Notable people

• Abba Mari ben Isaac of St Gilles

See also

• Communes of the Gard department
• Costières de Nîmes AOC

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Saint-Gilles, EHESS (in French).
4. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE

Further reading

• Whitney S. Stoddard, 1973. The Façade of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard: Its Influence on French Sculpture (Wesleyan University Press,)

External links

• Official website (in French)
• Official town hall website (in French) the other
• Pictures of the abbey church
• More pictures of the abbey church
• The West Portal of the Abbey of Saint-Gilles A tinted plaster caste at the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh.
• virtual Tours #1:St. Gilles-du-Gard
• Regordane Info - The independent portal for The Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail The Regordane finishes in Saint-Gilles. (in English and French)