The Camargue cross was designed in 1926 by the painter-illustrator Hermann-Paul (1864–1940),[2] at the request of his friend the marquis-writer-manadier Folco de Baroncelli (1869–1943), considered to be the "Inventor" of the Camargue. After having founded the Nacioun Gardiano association in 1904, to "maintain and glorify the costume, customs and traditions of the country of Arles, the Camargue and the bullfighting countries", he was inspired by the naval anchors to represent with this cross the "Camargue nation" of herdsmen and fishermen.[3][4]
The statue was inaugurated by the Committee of Friends of the Marquis de Baroncelli on July 7, 1926, in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer on a platform next to the post office (opposite the current "Grand Large" building). During this celebration, many personalities, including the Marquis de Baroncelli and his friends, were present: the poet Joseph d'Arbaud, Rul d'Elly, Maguy Hugo (granddaughter of Victor Hugo), Madame de la Garanderie, Fanfonne Guillierme, the family of the owners of Maison Aubanel[fr], Pauline Ménard-Dorian, and her husband, the painter Hermann-Paul.[6]
The cross was transferred ten years later to the Pont du Mort (or the Maure), at the western entrance to the village on the road to Aigues-Mortes. After being slightly moved, the original cross was stolen. A copy of the original still stands there. In July 2016, the Camargue cross celebrated its 90th anniversary.[7]
↑ En 1904, le marquis de Baroncelli-Javon (1869-1943), manadier avignonnais, crée la Natioun gardiano, association s'engageant à maintenir l'élevage taurin, les traditions camarguaises et le costume traditionnel (in French)
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and largest city is Marseille; other important cities include Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Martigues and Aubagne.
The Camargue is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the Petit Rhône. It constitutes western Europe's largest river delta.
Aigues-Mortes is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved. Situated on the junction of the Canal du Rhône à Sète and the Chenal Maritime to Le Grau-du-Roi, the town is a transit center for canal craft and Dutch barges.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, is the capital of the Camargue in the south of France. It is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department by the Mediterranean Sea. It covers the second-largest area of all communes in Metropolitan France, smaller only than that of neighbouring Arles.
The anchored cross, or mariner's cross, is a stylized cross in the shape of an anchor. It is a symbol which is shaped like a plus sign depicted with anchor-like fluke protrusions at its base. There are many variations on this symbol, but the most common form connects a ring with a bar, with a cross-bar, terminating on the other end with two curved branches or arrowheads. The anchor symbolizes hope, steadfastness, calm and composure. It also can symbolize security in one or more uncertain experiences of life, such as sea voyages, one's fate after death, and the vagaries of fortune.
The Camargue, French: Camarguais or Cheval de Camargue, is a traditional French breed of working horse indigenous to the Camargue area in southern France. Its origins are unknown. For centuries, possibly thousands of years, these small horses have lived wild in the harsh environment of the Camargue marshes and wetlands of the Rhône delta, which covers part of the départements of Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône. There they developed the stamina, hardiness and agility for which they are known today. Traditionally, they live in semi-feral conditions in the marshy land of the region. The Camargue horse is the traditional mount of the gardians, the Camargue riders who herd the black Camargue bulls used for courses camarguaises in southern France.
A gardian is a mounted cattle herdsman in the Camargue delta in Provence, southern France. The work is akin to that of the Mexican charro, the North American cowboy, the Tuscan buttero or the Portuguese campino. Gardians ride Camargue horses.
The Occitan cross is a heraldic cross, today chiefly used as a symbol of Occitania.
Aimargues is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. The town of Aimargues may have Roman origins and is situated beside the river Vidourle on the floodplain of the Rhône. Traditionally it has been an agricultural and wine-producing community but it now also has a number of new industries and employers who benefit from excellent road connections to the north of France as well as to Spain and Italy.
The Parc naturel régional de Camargue is a protected area which was designated in 1970 along the shoreline of the Camargue, France. The park protects a wetland environment and an adjacent marine area. The boundaries of the park have been expanded to include a lagoon called the Étang de Vaccarès.
The Camargue is a breed of domestic cattle native to the Camargue marshlands of the river delta of the Rhône in southern France. It is used for the traditional sport of course camarguaise, a kind of bloodless bull-fight, but not for the corrida, Iberian-style bull-fighting. It is one of two cattle breeds raised in semi-feral conditions in the Camargue; the other is the Brava or Race de Combat, a fighting breed. Since 1996 it has been officially known as the Provençal: Raço di Biòu.
Georges Dufrénoy was a French post-Impressionist painter associated with Fauvism.
The Bac du Sauvage or Sauvage Ferry is a cable ferry across a branch of the Rhône in the Camargue region of southern France. The crossing is 230 metres (750 ft) long and carries a road across the Petit Rhône about 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) from Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and a similar distance upriver from the Mediterranean Sea. The ferry crossing is located on the territory of the commune of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Folco de Baroncelli-Javon, was a French writer and cattle farmer. As an influential gardian, he is an important figure in the traditional lifestyle and culture of the Camargue region of southern France.
A manade is a term used mainly in the Camargue area in France for a semi-feral group of Camargue cattle or horses led by a gardian, or herder. In French, the word manade dates from 1867. In older texts it also referred to herds of sheep, but modern use of the term is limited only to raising groups of larger livestock.
Albin Théodore Denys Colomb de Daunant was a French writer, poet, photographer and filmmaker, best known for his work on the multi-award-winning 1953 short film White Mane. An aristocrat and modern dandy, he was an iconic figure of France's rural Camargue region.
Jeanne de Flandreysy, born Jeanne Mellier was a French author and literary critic. She was the author of many books about Provence, and she promoted Franco-Italian cultural exchanges.
The Brava or Race de Combat is a French breed of domestic cattle raised in the Camargue, the delta of the Rhône in southern France. It is bred specifically for bull-fighting, either Spanish-style or Portuguese-style. It is one of two cattle breeds raised in semi-feral conditions in the Camargue: the other is the Raço di Biòu or Camargue breed, which is not a fighting breed but is used in a bloodless bull-sport, the course camarguaise. The Brava derives from Iberian fighting cattle imported in the nineteenth century, and may also be known as the Espagnole Brava.
The Nacioun gardiano is a maintenance association founded in 1904 in France. Its goal is to "maintain and glorify the costume, customs, and traditions of the country of Arles, the Camargue and the bullfighting countries".
The Church of the Saintes Maries de la Mer is a Romanesque fortified church built in the 9th century in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in Camargue, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence. Dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus and to The Three Marys, it is the subject of annual Roma pilgrimage. Since 1840, it has been classified as a French Historical Monument.
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