Anduze

Small town with picturesque charm

Because here, there is something for everyone: heritage enthusiasts will find beautiful monuments, sports enthusiasts will be able to walk on hiking trails, local products will delight gourmands and the magnificent landscapes will finish putting everyone in agreement.

A rich history, between rocks and Gardon

Nested at the foot of two hills (the rocks, as the Anduzians call them, of Saint-Julien and Peyremale), Anduze benefits from its location as a strategic crossroads.

In fact, if several thousand years ago these two rocks formed only one, the Gardon slowly dug its bed to open the Cevennes Gate which today gives Anduze its nickname. This gate has been used for several centuries by merchants and visitors who take pleasure in making a rejuvenating stop in Anduze.

Let’s also take the time to discover this place full of history.

Hiking Sheet

Go on the assault of Peyremale with our 7km hiking sheet (about 2h).

The Rock of Peyremale

The Vase of Anduze

An ancestral know-how

Anduze is the capital of the famous Vase d’Anduze. Pottery is indeed a very old activity of the Anduze region, probably inherent to the presence of clay.

The legend says that it was in 1610 at the Beaucaire fair that a Cevennes potter found inspiration when he saw Medici type pottery. Upon his return, he turns large pots and founds the first company of what will become the famous Vase d’Anduze, renowned today throughout the world for its garlands and macaroons.

The Route du Vase d’Anduze

The objective of the Route du Vase d’Anduze is to shed light on the passion of nine manufacturers who are the guarantors of this traditional local know-how. The potters of this road are the only ones today to perpetuate the ancestral gestures and guarantee to the future purchasers a Vase of Anduze of quality, realized in the respect of the tradition.

The road of the vase : the potters

1 day in Anduze

Find all our tips and good plans to discover Anduze, a small town with a picturesque charm that has many assets!

You will be able to visit the main monuments or go for a hike in search of a breathtaking view. This is a day that doesn’t involve using your vehicle.

1 day in Anduze

Not to be missed in Anduze

The main monuments

The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower dates from the 14th century and was originally used as a watchtower. In 1569, it was equipped with a clock, thus giving it a civil and not only military use. This new function allowed it to be spared during the destruction of the ramparts ordered by Richelieu after the signing of the Peace of Alais in 1629. Its meridian allows to give the time every quarter of an hour between 11 am and 1 pm. The dial registers the seasons and the entries in the signs of the zoodiac.

The Pagoda Fountain

This fountain was graciously donated in 1649 by an Anduzian consul, a silk merchant. He regularly traveled to the East for business and was seduced by the architecture in use. Seeing that Anduze had only one fountain, he decided to offer one to his compatriots. He proposed to the city to pay for the construction of the fountain, provided that his plans were respected. The oldest tiles were made locally.

The Pradier Fountain

Located on the Brie plan, it was built at the time of the construction of the rue Neuve, around 1830. In a classical style, it is composed of a vast circular basin in the center of which, on a worked base, a basin is placed, supporting a column with a Corinthian capital, all in white marble. It bears the name of its sculptor James Pradier, who also created a monumental fountain of the same name in Nîmes.

Saint Stephen's Church

The church of Saint Stephen was consecrated in 1688. The interior contains valuable artistic treasures: the painting of the Assumption (1697), the painting of St. Stephen (1846), gold leaf statues from the first half of the nineteenth century, a tabernacle from the seventeenth century, murals depicting the Virgin Mary and colored stained glass windows from the nineteenth century.

The Temple

The temple of the Reformed Church was built between 1820 and 1823 on the site of the courtyard of the former military barracks. The façade is in neoclassical style, with columns and triangular pediment. The interior of the temple is distinguished by its hemicycle organization that faces the marble communion table. The bell tower has the particularity of being located at the back of the temple.

The Bicentennial Fountain

Made in 1989 by a companion for the commemoration of the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. The columns illustrate the 3 architectural styles Ionic, Doric and Corinthian.

The main squares and streets

The dock

It is wrongly called this because no boat has ever come to dock there. For a century and a half, the houses deprived of their ramparts were victims of the famous “gardonnades” (sudden and violent floods of the river Gardon). To counter this phenomenon, the dike was built in 1774.

The Brie plan

At the crossroads of all the roads leading to Anduze, is the Plan de Brie. This large square with many restaurants is a lively place all year round. You will find one of our tourist information offices which will be able to advise you to organize your stay and will be able to deliver you the plan of the city.

The covered square

Built in 1457, it used to be the market for grain and chestnuts. The market halls, maintained over the centuries, still house the local market. This square is surrounded by remarkable residences, some of which were the homes of the bourgeoisie or nobility.

The Notre Dame square

It takes its name from a former church named Notre Dame du Bourg, now disappeared. In its center is a fountain, which dates from the beginning of the 18th century. Behind it is a magnificent porch in red sandstone, dated 1728.

Place de la République

Opposite the church is the oldest fountain in the city, built on the site of a former cemetery and topped by an obelisk. The old consular house, which was once the seat of the city’s administrative power, is located here. Above the door, you can see the old coat of arms of the city of Anduze, damaged during the Revolution.

The right street

So named because in the past in Cevenol patois “dret” meant “direct”. By this street next to the Château Neuf, one reaches “directly” the heart of the city, the Place Couverte.

Rue Notarié

As its name indicates, this street was lined with notaries’ offices. It is also by this street that one reached the first protestant temple in 1567, at n°5.

Rue de la Boucherie

A narrow street, with beautiful doors with remarkable frames. At n°2 is an old house where one can see, under the genoises, 4 mascarons representing human heads. The entrance porch opens onto a vast interior courtyard with a calade floor.

The night market

during the summer

Night markets invite you to stroll around discovering numerous exhibitors while enjoying the cool evenings.

Find the Anduze market on Tuesday nights.

The Cordelier Park

Calm and freshness

Parc des Cordeliers

The Parc des Cordeliers, with an area of 4 hectares, is much appreciated for its calm and the beauty of its species as well as its freshness thanks to its various springs and basins. its main entrance is on Avenue Rollin.

Following the paths, walkers discover the typical trees of the region but also less common species such as the Himalayan cedar, the tulip tree of Virginia, the cryptomeria of Japan, the purple beech or the oak of the Canaries which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful specimens in Europe.

There is the Bust of Clara d’Anduze, the plaques of the poet Florian, the poet and writer Henri Barbusse (1873-1935) and the resistance fighter Marcel Bonnafoux (1910-1942) as well as the war memorial.

Clara d'Anduze or the stakes of love at the time of the troubadours...

Clara loves Uc de Saint-Cyr passionately, who loves her in return, but things become complicated when the knight begins to have suspicions about his lady’s fidelity and begins courting others. Clara must use all her persuasion, all her poetic skill, and the help of others to win back her lover. Such, briefly summarized, is the central plot of which Clara is the heroine.

Clara d’Anduze, or Clara d’Anduza in Occitan, was born around 1200. Probably affiliated with the lords of Anduze, she was a celebrated trobairitz of her time. Trobairitz are women poets and composers speaking in the Occitan language who lived in southern France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The richness of Clara’s text as well as the twists and turns of her love with Uc de Saint-Cyr make her a captivating figure in the historiography of the troubadours and the turbulent world of courtly love.

Sophie Capmartin

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