Trets

Geography

Trets is situated in the Upper Valley of the Arc river, between painter Paul Cézanne's beloved Montagne Sainte-Victoire 11 km to the north and the Aurélien hills (Monts Auréliens) to the east, at the foot of Mount Olympus to the south.

Population and history

Archeological evidence suggests that the first inhabitants of the area, the Chasséen culture, lived on the summit of Mount Olympus around 4000 BC, during the Neolithic period.

The founding site of Trets has been described variously as a Greek colony or an “ancient Roman settlement.” By some accounts Trets was originally named Trittia or Tritea by the Phocean settlers of Massalia, in homage to the daughter of the Greek god Triton.

In the later years of the Roman conquest of Provence, Gaius Marius defeated the Teutons and Ambrones “at a spot between Saint-Maximin and Trets.”

The first historical account identifying the populace now known as Trets appears in 950 AD, when the king of Burgundy and Provence Conrad the Peaceful transferred hereditary rule over the lands of the Upper Valley of the Arc as a fisc to the first Seigneur (or Lord) of Trets. A succession of lords ruled until the French Revolution of 1789.

Architecture

Gallo-Roman, Romanesque, and gothic buildings and vaulted passageways of the medieval period line the narrow, winding streets of town. Many were surrounded by towers and ramparts, as was the center of the town itself, for defense against successive invasions over the centuries.

La Porte de Pourrière, built in the 14th century, was the main gateway access into town. On the north end were La Porte de Clastre, La Porte Neuve and La Porte de Puyloubier, all destroyed by the mid-19th century. La Porte Saint Jean provided uptown access and stored munitions.

Now the grounds of the Edmond Brun elementary school, a hospital named Hôpital Saint Jacques was established circa 1300 near the church of the same patronage and later transferred, in 1794, to the Observantins convent.

The low, vaulted passageway called Le Trou de Madame Lion gains access to the ramparts surrounding the center of town. It is thought to have been either a way of confining any epidemic outbreak to the grounds of the hospital or a way of defending against mounted attacks.

To the southeast is the Château des Remparts, which had eight towers and four gates, a courtyard and gardens. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Château was pivotal to town life. In June 2013 a number of renovations were completed, with a modern performance space in the courtyard.

The 14th-century Church of Our Lady of Nazareth was formerly a 4th-century priory of the Roman-Provençal style with an open vaulted arch, gothic chapels, and a massive unfinished tower.

La Chapelle Saint-Jean-du-Puy, a former 5th-century hermitage, features a Romanesque apse, garden sanctuary and 18th-century watch tower that is an observatory overlooking the town and the Valley of the Arc. It was rebuilt with the addition of two Gallo-Roman columns.

The 14th-century papal Studium of Trets put forth what may have been the only record of its kind in the Vatican archives of that time, a register of the local economy detailing the material life of schoolchildren and their teachers.

The Hôtel de la Vallée de l’Arc, at the center of town, was an 18th-century relay post.

Cultural encounters and traditions

The influence of both Greek and Roman cultures is said to have led to the cultivation of wine and wheat. After the Romans came the Goths, the Merovingians, the Carlovingians and the Saracens; then, after a period of viscounts of Marseille, Trets came under local papal governance through the diocese of Aix, according to the papal bull of Urban II in 1088.

Holidays and festivals reflect historical encounters and traditions, including:

While the Jews were expelled from France in 1182, local governance permitted construction of a synagogue in a manor on the present-day street called Rue Paul Bert. A surrounding Jewish quarter was established by local edict in the early 14th century.

In 2000, sister city exchanges were established with Aghavnadzor, Armenia.