The foundation of the city is attributed to Marius Caius, around 102 BC, but the first document mentioning a place called "Ayga Mortas" (dead waters) dates from the 10th century AD.
The 1,650 metres of city walls were built in two phases: the first during the reign of Philippe III the Bold and the second during the reign of Philippe IV the Fair, who had the enclosure completed between 1289 and 1300. The Constance Tower, completed in 1248, is all that remains of the castle built in Louis IX's reign. It was designed to be impregnable with six-metre-thick walls. A spiral staircase leads to the different levels of the tower.
From 1575 to 1622, Aigues-Mortes was one of the eight safe havens granted to the Protestants. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 caused severe repression of Protestantism, which was marked in Languedoc and the Cévennes in the early 18th century by the "Camisard War". Like other towers in the town, from 1686 onwards, the Constance Tower was used as a prison for the Huguenots who refused to convert to Roman Catholicism. In 1703, Abraham Mazel, leader of the Camisards, managed to escape with sixteen companions.
In 1893 a conflict erupted between the French and the Italians who worked in the salt evaporation ponds of Peccais. Nine Italians were killed and hundreds injured in the ethnic violence.[1]
By road, Aigues-Mortes is about 35 km (21.75 mi) from Nîmes, préfecture (administrative capital) of the Garddépartement and 30 km (18.65 mi) from Montpellier, préfecture of the Héraultdépartement. As the crow flies, Aigues-Mortes is 32.5 km (20.19 mi) from Nîmes and 26 km (16.16 mi) from Montpellier.
A rail branch line from Nîmes passes through Aigues-Mortes to its terminus on the coast at Grau-du-Roi. This line also transports sea salt.
Economy
While tourism plays a large part of the town's economy, wine, asparagus and sea salt are also important staples. In the surrounding countryside, bulls and Camargue horses are bred.
