THE HISTORY OF ST. THIBERY

The village of St. Thibery has over 4000 years of history. In the Gallo-Roman period, a town grew up at the confluence of the Hérault and the Tongue rivers. Its former name of Celtic origin, "CESSERO", was eventually changed into "St-THIBERY" in honor of the martyr Thibery (the son of a Roman governor of the city of Agde) who refused to worship the emperor and was therefore condemned to death by his father. Numerous architectural remains testify to the ancient history of St Thibéry.

The Roman Bridge above was originally built in 118 BC. At the time, the Romans were occupying the "Narbonnaise" region of Gaul (France). For a better link between Italy and Spain, and also to be able to keep a closer watch on their new colony, the Roman Consul Domitius Ahenobarbus changed the old Heracles way into a well marked-out road, the Via Domitia. The bridge over the Hérault river was originally made of at least 9 arches, each of them measuring 13-16ft high, 33-40ft long, 15ft wide. Damaged by violent and frequent floods, the bridge was reinforced during the Middle Ages.

The Benedictine Abbey is pictured above. In keeping with Benedictine rule, the abbey owned a large amount of land; the abbots, the lords of the village, used to play both a political and a spiritual role. In the year 1389 the King of France, Charles VI, was entertained there.The abbey used to attract a number of pilgrims who believed that the relics of Saint Thibery kept there could heal mental diseases.

A beautiful abbey church and an imposing monastery were built. During the 15 century, the abbey church was rebuilt on its original Romanesque bases, in a Gothic style. The bell-tower was erected in 1509 (it used to house as many as 8 bells). The mentally ill who had come to worship the relics of the Saint in the hope of being healed, were locked up on the ground floor of the tower. The monastery was destroyed and rebuilt several times.