Nacioun Gardians (Cultural association, Camargue, France)

Last modified: 2003-06-14 by ivan sache
Keywords: nacioun gardians | bouches-du-rhone | camargue | finial | baroncelli (folco) |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

by Ivan Sache

• Presentation of the Camargue
• Presentation of the Gardians
• Description of the flag

See also:

• France
• Bouches-du-Rhône (Department, France)

Presentation of the Camargue

The Camargue is an area of 75,000 ha, mostly located on the island constituted by the delta of the river Rhône. In the city of Arles, the Rhône divides into two branches, the Petit Rhône (Little Rhône, west) and the Grand Rhône (Great Rhône, East). The Petit Rhône flows into the Mediterranean Sea west of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, whereas the Grand Rhône flows into the Mediterranean Sea east of Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône.
The Camargue was exploited in the Middle-Ages by Cistercian and Benedictine monks. In the XVI-XVIIth centuries, big estates, known locally as mas, were founded by rich landlords from Arles. At the end of the XVIIIth century, the Rhône was dyked up. In 1858, the building of the digue à la mer (dyke to the sea) achieved protection of the delta from erosion.
The north of the Camargue is made of agricultural land. Main crops are cereals, grapevine and rice. Near the seashore, salt extraction started in the antiquity and was a source of wealth for the "salt abbeys" of Ulmet and Psalmody in the M