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Successive periods of glaciations and global warming were required to create the immense torrents that 1,700,000 years ago deposited huge chunks of land, still frozen, on our limestone plateau.
This was indeed providential for our prehistoric ancestors.
Bracelets, tools, weapons and pottery, from Bronze Age, have been discovered on the same plateau where Celts built fortified places before consecrating a temple to Belen, god of light and sun, on the opposite side of the Ardèche River.
During the second century B.C., the Romans conquered Helvetia, now county of Ardèche. A paved Roman way was built between Uzès (Ucetium), the sumptuous Alba Augusta, the Helvitian capital, and the Rhône valley. This road bordered Balazuc.
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After successive invasions by the Vandals and the Visigoths, according to legend, Saracens settled in Balazuc in about 734, after having been defeated by Charles Martel near Poitiers.
The romanesque church was erected at the exact location of the former pagan temple dedicated to Belen! Balazuc, whose name is a tribute to a pagan divinity, in time became a Catholic bastion.
The lords of Balazuc were known for their influence and the extent of their lands. Montravel wrote that the origins of the Balazuc family are lost in the darkness of Middle Ages, while the local historian Mazon considered the family as the most powerful in the Bas-Vivarais. |
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