Beaucaire
Country	France
Région	Languedoc-Roussillon
Département	Gard
Arrondissement	Nîmes
Canton	Beaucaire (chief town)
Intercommunality
Mayor Term of office	Mireille Cellier
Land area¹	86.52 km²
Population² (1999)	13,748
Population density ({{{date-dens}}})	159 pers./km²
Longitude	04° 38' 39" E
Latitude	43° 48' 29" N
Altitude	average: 18 m minimum: 1 m maximum: 156 m
INSEE Code	30032
Postal code	30300
1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers. 2 Population sans doubles comptes, i.e. not counting those people already counted in another commune (such as students and military personal). Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... France is divided into 26 régions: 21 of these are in the continental part of metropolitan France, one is Corse on the island of Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a territorial collectivity, not a région, but is referred to as a région in common... Capital Montpellier Land area¹ 27,376 km² Regional President Georges Frêche (PS) (since 2004) Population  - Jan. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to British counties. ... Gard is a département located in le midi, the south of France, named after the river Gardon (or Gard). ... The 100 French départements are divided into 342 arrondissements. ... The arrondissement of Nîmes is an arrondissement of France, located in the Gard département, of the Languedoc-Roussillon région. ... The canton is an administrative division of France. ... The commune (in French: commune, word appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a gathering of people sharing a common life, from Latin communis, things held in common) is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. ... A mayor (from the Latin maÄ«or, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... Map of Earth showing lines of longitude, which appear curved and vertical in this projection, but are actually halves of great circles Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... Latitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... INSEE is the French abbreviation for the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (French: Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques). ... A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. ... Estuaries and coastal waters are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth, providing numerous ecological, economic, cultural, and aesthetic benefits and services. ...

View down into Beaucaire and the marina from the bridge leading to Tarascon.

View over the Rhône, looking upstream from the Pont de Beaucaire, with a view of Beaucaire Castle.

Beaucaire is a small town and commune in southern France, in the Gard département of Languedoc-Roussillon. Population (1999): 13,748. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (906x518, 33 KB) // Location & Date A bridge (Le Pont de Beaucaire) spanning the River Rhône between Beaucaire and Tarascon. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (906x518, 33 KB) // Location & Date A bridge (Le Pont de Beaucaire) spanning the River Rhône between Beaucaire and Tarascon. ... The commune (in French: commune, word appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a gathering of people sharing a common life, from Latin communis, things held in common) is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. ... Gard is a département located in le midi, the south of France, named after the river Gardon (or Gard). ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to British counties. ... Capital Montpellier Land area¹ 27,376 km² Regional President Georges Frêche (PS) (since 2004) Population  - Jan. ...

Geography

Beaucaire is located on the Rhône River, opposite the town of Tarascon, which is in Bouches-du-Rhône département of Provence. Area: 86,52 km². Starry Night Over the Rhone, by Vincent van Gogh (1888) The River Rhône (French Rhône, Occitan Ròse, Franco-Provençal Roun, standard German Rhone, Valais German Rotten) is one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France. ... Tarascon Castle from front. ... Bouches-du-Rhône is a département in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. ... Provence is a former Roman province and is now a region of southeastern France, located on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Frances border with Italy. ...

Neighboring communes:

• Bellegarde
• Comps
• Fourques
• Jonquières-Saint-Vincent
• Manduel
• Redessan
• Tarascon
• Vallabrègues

Bellegarde is the name or part of the name of several communes in France: Bellegarde, in the Gard département Bellegarde, in the Gers département Bellegarde, in the Loiret département Bellegarde, in the Tarn département Bellegarde-du-Razès, in the Aude département Bellegarde-en-Diois... Tarascon Castle from front. ... Vallabrègues is a town and commune of the Gard département, in southern France. ...

Sights

• Mediaeval castle.

History & Culture

Etymology

'Beaucaire' probably means:

• Beau < French beau ('Beautiful') < Vulgar Latin BELLV ('Beautiful')
• Caire < some Celtic root cognate with elements such as carn, cairn, caer referring to some stone object, perhaps a small fortress or a cairn.

In Roman times, it was along the Via Domitia, the first Roman road built in Gaul. Vulgar Latin (in Latin, sermo vulgaris) is a blanket term covering the vernacular dialects of the Latin language spoken mostly in the western provinces of the Roman Empire until those dialects, diverging still further, evolved into the early Romance languages — a distinction usually assigned to about the ninth century. ... The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, spoken by ancient and modern Celts alike. ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... A cairn to mark the way along a glacier A cairn is a manmade pile of stones. ... It has been suggested that Culture of ancient Rome be merged into this article or section. ... The Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, which is in modern day France. ... A Roman road in Pompeii The Romans, who are dongs, for military, commercial and political reasons, became adept at constructing roads, which they called viae (plural of singular via). ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (from Latin Gallia, c. ...

During the Albigensian Crusade, Raymond VI of Toulouse besieged Beaucaire in May 1216. The efforts of Simon de Montfort to relieve the town were repulsed. The city fell after a three month siege. The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) was a brutal, 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church, to eliminate the religion practiced by the Cathars of Languedoc, which the Roman Catholic hierarchy considered heretical. ... Raymond VI of Toulouse (October 27, 1156 - August 2, 1222) was count of Toulouse from 1194 to 1222. ... For the Boston area punk band see Siege (band). ... Events Prince Louis of France, the future King Louis VIII, invades England in the First Barons War Henry III becomes King of England. ... Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, also Simon IV de Montfort (1160 – June 25, 1218) was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade (1202 - 1204) and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade. ...

Beaucaire was the site of mediaeval fairs.

Camargue bulls are annually run through the streets, Iberian-style. Shoreline of the Étang de Vaccarès The Camargue is the land south of Arles, France, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the River Rhône delta at the approximate coordinates 43°32′N 4°30′E . ...

Le Drac

From 20^th–22^nd June each year, Beaucaire celebrates the myth of the Drac. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Mythology. ...

The townsfolk bring the monster to life the form of a long procession, which snakes through the town led by a swarm of children carrying Chinese-type lanterns. Monster is a term for any number of legendary creatures that frequently appear in mythology, legend, and horror fiction. ...

According to folklore, the Drac monster is invisible to humans and is capable of changing shape at will. He is usually, however, depicted as a large, fearsome, winged sea-serpent. The story goes that in 1250 he abducted a lavender seller and took her beneath the waters to raise his son. When she was released at the end of seven years, the young woman was endowed with a strange power: the ability to recognise the Drac with one of her eyes. One day, she recognised him as he was going about the market in Beaucaire. Upon being identified, the Drac ripped the woman's eye out. Species About 25-30, including: Lavandula angustifolia Lavandula canariensis Lavandula dentata Lavandula lanata Lavandula latifolia Lavandula multifida Lavandula pinnata Lavandula stoechas Lavandula viridis The lavenders Lavandula are a genus of about 25-30 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, native from the Mediterranean region south to tropical... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Street markets such as this one in Rue Mouffetard, Paris are still common in France. ...

The Drac was then supposed to have gone on to kill over three thousand knights and villagers, being perhaps one of the craftiest of all French dragons. Most of the kills were performed in Beaucaire. Sometimes, however, the dragon would search for other victims elsewhere. The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ...

Whole armies were allegedly sent against the Drac, but all failed. The beast is thus assumed either to have died of old age, or to be still living at the bottom of the Rhône.

There are variations on the story. Some say lavender seller got her dragon-sight by accidentally getting 'Dragon cream' in her eye. Others say the Drac gave her a box of human fat to rub into the hatchling's scales so that it would be visible to humans (otherwise she would not be able to care for it). She was supposed to clean the fat off her hands every evening with special water; but, one evening, she forgot to do so, rubbed her eyes with her dirty hands, and acquired her dragon-sight. Some say it was both eyes, or just the one. Still other versions confuse this beast with other monsters of regional folklore, and claim the Drac was slain by some saint or heroine.

The date above conflicts a little with the account we have by an eminent inhabitant of Arles, Gervais de Tibury, who was passing through Beaucaire in 1214. He said he was astonished by what the villagers told him. They claimed that the deaths of a fair number of people in the waters of the Rhône were due to a dragon who lived in the river, and who had previously emerged, a many years before. The legend was perpetuated by Frédéric Mistral in his Poèmes du Rhône, where he tells of a hybrid monster, dwelling in the river and coming out from time to time to feed on human flesh: lavender-sellers, ferrymen or others who strayed to close to the water's edge. The invisible Drac would sometimes use a passage from the waters of the Rhône to a well in the marketplace in order to come out and walk among the townsfolk. Map of western Mediterranean, showing location of Arles Arles (Arle in Provençal) is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône département, of which it is a sous-préfecture, in the former province of Provence. ... Events Simon Apulia becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... Frédéric Mistral (September 8, 1830 - March 25, 1914) was a French poet who led the 19th century revival of Occitan (Provençal) language and literature. ...

The name Drac is the Occitan and Catalan word for 'dragon', from the Latin DRACO, DRACONIS. The French for 'dragon' is simply dragon. Occitan, or langue doc is a Romance language characterized by its richness, variability, and by the intelligibility of its dialects. ... Catalan (Català) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra and co-official in two regions of Spain. ...

External links

• http://www.beaucaire.fr/ — Town's official website (in French)
• http://www.ot-beaucaire.fr/ — Local Tourist Office (in French, English & Catalan)
• http://www.abbaye-saint-roman.com/ — Troglodyte abbey (in French)
• http://www.tourelles.com/ — Classical wines and reconstitutions of roman cellar and wines (in French and English)