Tourist Office

Puisserguier
Post Code: 34 620
Departement : Hérault (34)
Region : Languedoc-Roussillon
Population : 2 482 hab.  
Altitude : 88 m  
Market day:  Friday morning
 

Office de Tourisme
7 Blvd Victor Hugo
34620 Puisserguier
France

Phone: (0033) 4 67 93 85 27
Fax: (0033) 4 67 93 89 23

Puisserguier is a typical southern French wine village. It lies close to the Mediterranean Sea. Beziers, the largest nearby town is 16 kms away. The spanish border at Le Perthuis is 128 kms away. Puisserguier has a history that goes back to medieval times and belongs to a type of village called the circulades This kind of architecture dates from the Romanesque period where the streets are built in concentric circles around the base of the chateau. As early as 1146 Puisserguier was known as Podium Serigarium, and then later became Puecherguier.

the original walls of Puiserguier

In the Rue Parmentier and the Impasse Lapeyronie you will find signs of old wells that served the village. These wells connected to underground passages that communicated with the castle at Maureilhan and the Priory at St Christophe, just outside the village.

The Town Hall or Marie is housed, in what was an imposing family mansion. Many houses are reminders of the wealth of the village in times gone bye. Puisserguier sat on one of the many pilgrim routes that crossed France to the Cathedral of St Jacques du Campostelle in northwestern Spain. In the Rue de la Coquille it is possible to see, set in the wall of one of the houses, a shell sculptured in stone. It was normal for the pilgrims to mark their route in this manner, but few of these symbols survive. Puisserguier is typical of many of the wine villages of the Herault, and time should be set aside for exploring on foot. Many surprises await you, and if you make the effort to speak to the locals you will be made very welcome. A typical market takes place every Friday during the morning.

The National Institute of Preventative Archaeological Research

INRAP, has recently performed a lot of work in Puisserguier, when,as a result of some excavation work for a new development in the village, an Iron Age (9th to the 7th century B.C.) cemetery was revealed. Unusually the cemetery was intact and contained 235 graves. The burials sites took the form of a circular pit into which the urn containing the ashes of the deceased person had been placed.It was then covered over by a heavy circular stone.
The Iron Age Cemetery at Puisserguier was used continuously from the 9^th to the 7^th century BC.

The heart of the cemetery contained two tombs of special interest; these were more complex, perhaps indicating that the people were of a higher status.

It was the exclusive practice to cremate adults in the Languedoc, during this period of time, and inside each tomb was a vase containing ashes, and personal items. From the entire archeological dig INRAP uncovered about 4,000 vases and 600 metal objects (knives, bracelets, clothing accessories, brooches, harness pieces etc.), which allowed a study to be made of the burial and social practices of the time, as well as to be able to identify the indigenous communities that lived in the south of Gaul just prior to the beginning of the Greek colonization.. This discovery will prove valuable in allowing archaeologists to study funeral practices and social organization within cemeteries, of pre-Greek communities. In addition, this is one of the few Iron Age burial finds in France, and it has stayed very well preserved.

  This archeological find has proved to be one of the most important Iron Age cemeteries in the whole of France. The use of specific funerary ware and the signs that people re visited the site after burials suggests perhaps a degree of care within the family

A walk through the village

For more information on the Region
www.languedoc-roussillon.eu.com

                  

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