History
A little history...
Madières, on the passage of the old Spanish route, is mentioned from the beginning of the 9th century: “Villa Maderias” and was then a possession of the monks of Gellone.
The original location is a barred cape type oppidum. The bottoms of the huts are located below near a pass. The occupation of the site continued during the Middle Ages, at least temporarily, as evidenced by numerous tiles from this period. On the Larzac side, a fortress occupying the site of the oppidum commanded the passage towards the Séranne and Saint Guillem le Désert. Of this veritable eagle’s nest, only a few sections of walls remain with loopholes with a semi-circular top, a cistern cut into the rock at the top of a peak with no access path. The whole thing was razed in 1217, the lord having transformed into a highwayman.
On the Causse de Blandas side, another fortress defended access to the road and the village. It existed in the 12th century. Since this date, it has undergone numerous modifications as evidenced by the architecture of the facade overlooking the river.
Classified as a Historic Monument, the Château de Madières is a former Fortified Place which is mentioned for the first time in the Archives, under the reign of Philippe-Auguste, in 1181. In fact, it did not remain in the possession of the “Madières” family for long since, in November 1250, Sieur Raymond de Madières donated it to his daughter Aigline de Madières, on the occasion of her marriage to Raymond IV of Madières. Ginestous.
Until 1887, the Château and its lands remained the property of the “de Ginestous” family. During the century that followed, sadly neglected by its various owners, the Castle gradually fell into disrepair.
In 1983, Françoise and Bernard Brucy bought the castle and undertook restoration work.
Built on the foundations of the first Fortified Square, the current Castle is a vast quadrilateral made up of three “U”-shaped wings and closed by a fortified wall in which the monumental entrance portal opens, under the bretèche which formerly defended the drawbridge. Two of the wings were built in the 14th century and it is to the last, built at the end of the Renaissance, after demolition of most of the fortification wall, that the Castle owes its imposing south facade and its terrace.
Madières village
Madières is geographically cut between Gard and Hérault, the VIS establishing the limit between the departments and also between the communes of Rogues and Saint Maurice. This specificity of quartering goes back well before the revolution and the geographical division of France into departments.
At the beginning of the century the village had around 120 inhabitants and lived almost exclusively from:
– agriculture (vineyards, vegetable gardens, fruit trees and especially olive trees)
– the breeding of silkworms (hence the important establishment of the mulberry tree)
– goat breeding and its derivatives
– fishing (trout and crayfish)
– truffles
Madières has a teacher and a parish priest and also has two road workers and a postman.
The start of work on the factory and the canal brings the installation of traders in Madières and in particular:
– a baker (until the 1920s)
– a grocer
– two shoemakers (the last until 1942)
– several cafes
– two masons
– in addition a hotel – restaurant already existed and itinerant traders serve the village.
After the war of 1914-1918 which left 4 deaths among the families of Madières. The village is served by a bus from Saint Maurice to Montpellier (twice a week) and Ganges (3 times a week). The electrical factory is at its peak, it employs around twenty people.
After the war of 1939-1945 which left one person dead in the village’s population, the factory provided a living for the majority of families in Madières.
In 1952 E.D.F. built two houses or four housing units for its employees.
In 1964, the renovation and automation of the factory began.
In the 1960s, most employees retired due to lack of jobs, the population was no longer renewed and many houses closed.
However, at the beginning of the 90s we noted a revival of life and an increasingly obvious desire to revive the village which led in 1993 to the creation of the association “Le Pont de Madières” allowing everyone to come together behind a idea: the revival of Madières.
“Laïsca make you,
I will see you and discover MADIERES,
Lo te farai almar, s’acquo’s not already mad. “
© Château Zen 2022