A walk in Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard
FR - Situated 19 km from Uzès, the commune of Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard is the starting point for walks to the nearby Pont du Gard, just over 3 km away.
The Sanctus-Bonitus of 994 has changed its name several times over the centuries. Among other names, it became Castrum Sancti-Boniti in 1269, Bonnet-du-Gard in 1793... before becoming Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard in 1962.
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Did you know? Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard was on the salt route, an essential trade ‘for the monks of Psalmodie (the name of the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Laurent-d'Aigouze), a salt producer near Aigues-Mortes’.
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If you leave your car on the side near the start of the walk towards the Pont du Gard, you'll see the first stage of our strol, the imperial fountain-washhouse, dating from 1809. Three interconnected basins let the water flow freely to the wash-house, which is cool and pleasant in summer.
Crossing the road to reach the village, you will find a few remains of the ancient wall that protected the town (partly destroyed during the Huguenot rebellions by the Duke of Rohan (1579/1638)), including a beautiful porch with a heavy stonework.
Several crosses protecting Saint-Bonnet echo the calvaries of the region and can be seen on our way to the heights of the village. This is where you'll find the church named after the village's patron saint. It was built by the monks of Saint-Laurent-d'Aigouze Abbey (see above), using ‘many stones from the old Roman aqueduct’.
Fortified in the 14th century and a Historic Monument since 1907, it can be visited every 2nd Sunday of the month, in season.
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Chancellor to King Saint Sigert III, then magistrate in Marseille, Saint Bonnet (Bonitus) abolished slavery in the region under his influence. Elected bishop of Clermont, he asked to end his days as a simple monk in the abbey of Manlieu. Today, 39 localities in France, mainly in the Auvergne, are under his patronage (nominis.cef.fr).
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Discover Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard by following the Bonitus trail
Designed and produced by the association des Pousses et des Pierres created in 2019, the Bonitus trail takes you through 9 stages linked to a place or character (plus, the QR code at each stop).
Good to know: The association des Pousses et des Pierres ‘aims to safeguard and promote the heritage and wealth of crafts, vernacular, historical, archaeological, traditional, culinary, literary and folklore of Saint-Bonnet-du-Gard and the surrounding area, covering the Celtic, Roman and medieval periods, as well as protecting the preserved areas defined or to come and all its ecosystem and biodiversity’.