Saint-Geniès-de-Fontédit

General information

• Population: 1300
• Altitude : 58m
• All amenities (café, baker, butcher, grocery, doctor, hairdresser, garage, tabac, estate agent, post office, florist’s shop)
  Different wine makers.
• Postcode : 34480

Activities and economy

Saint-Geniès-de-Fontédit has traditionally relied on three staples : grain, olive-trees and vineyards, as well as trees and gardens, which gave way during the 19th century to the single-crop farming of the vineyard. Genuine effort is made to ensure top quality wine is produced.

Sites of Interest

Old listed church

History

The village of Saint-Geniès-de-Fontédit is situated between the foothills of Cabrerolles and the coastal plain of Bas-Languedoc. Belonging to the department of Hérault, the Taurou runs through it, a tributary of the Orb.

It appears to have been built around a church dedicated to St. Geniès (Genesius) – clerk to the Court in Arles, martyred in the middle of the 3rd century – and a fountain struck with an adictum (judicial or official decree), probably during the Carolingian era.

The place-name Sanctum Genesium de Fonte adicta appeared in 11th century documents, in different forms as well, such as Latin: Sanctum Genesium de Fontedicta, de Fontedicto; Languedoc: Sant Ginieis de Fontazeicha, de Fontarecha, and Fountarecho; or French (17th century): Fontedict, Fontédit. The name remained until the start of the 19th century when it was replaced by the unremarkable Saint Geniès le Bas, before reassuming Saint- Geniès de Fontédit in 1988.

Saint-Geniès-de-Fontédit passed into the possession of the Thézan family in 1323, bringing honour to the castle and making it a feudal possession, and was raised by Louis XV to the rank of Marquisate. The Thézan-Saint Geniès family disappeared after 1943 and their tomb is situated in the rural chapel of Saint Fulcran. The 14th century castle was partially redesigned during the 17th century.

As of 1247 the town was deemed a consular institution, governed by a charter written in Langue d’Oc, and became a Consulate in the 17th century. The base of the Consular tower still looks out over the fountain, and there is an uninterrupted collection of “compoix” or land registers starting from the 16th century.

The parish institutions are characterised in particular by the existence of two medieval brotherhoods. Firstly, the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament, of whom the original Langue d’Oc statutes from 1305 have, along with a processional cross, been preserved. And the Brotherhood of the Pilgrims of St. Jacques, reformed in 1635, whose 17th century wooden statue of St. Jacques himself still remains. The gothic style parish church dates from the 14th century, whilst the more recent steeple (17th century) was rebuilt in 1952 and re-tiled with a green glazed finish: the popular green steeple.