Concept

Ardèche

Summary
Ardèche (aʁdɛʃ; Ardecha, aɾˈdet͡ʃɔ; Ardecha) is a department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019. Its prefecture is in Privas, but its largest city is Annonay. The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardèche river has extensive standing stones (mainly dolmens but fewer menhirs), erected thousands of years ago. The river has one of the largest canyons in Europe and the caves that dot the cliffs—which go as high as 300 metres (1,000 feet)—are known for signs of prehistoric inhabitants (arrowheads and flint knives are often found). The Vivarais, as the Ardèche is still called, takes its name and coat-of-arms from Viviers, which was the capital of the Gaulish tribe of Helvii, part of Gallia Narbonensis, after the destruction of their previous capital at Alba-la-Romaine. Saint Andéol, a disciple of Polycarp, is supposed to have evangelized the Vivarais during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, and was supposedly martyred in 208. Legend tells of Andéol's burial by Amycia Eucheria Tullia. In 430, Auxonius transferred the see to Viviers as a result of the problems suffered at its previous site in Alba Augusta. The area of the Vivarais suffered greatly in the 9th century with raids from Hungarians and Saracen slavers operating from the coast of Provence resulting in an overall depopulation of the region. In the early 10th century, economic recovery saw the building of many Romanesque churches in the region including Ailhon, Mercuer, Saint Julien du Serre, Balazuc, Niègles and Rochecolombe. The medieval county of Viviers or Vivarais at this time was administratively a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, formed in 933 with the fusion by Rudolph II of Burgundy of the realms of Provence and Burgundy and bequeathed by its last monarch Rudolph III of Burgundy to the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II in 1032.
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