Aups

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Coordinates: 43°37′42″N 6°13′29″E / 43.62843140, 6.22482654

Commune of Aups

View of Aups
Location
Aups (France)
Aups
Administration
Country France
Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department Var
Arrondissement Brignoles
Canton Aups
Mayor Antoine Faure
(2008-)
Statistics
Elevation 390–1077
(avg. 505)
Land area¹ 64.15 km²
Population²
(1999)		 1,903
 - Density 30/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 83007/ 83630
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.
France

Aups is a town of the Var département, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The name of Aups in Occitan Provençal of Mistralian norm is Z'Aup (pronounced Zaou).

Contents

[edit] Geography

Located in Provence at 500m alt, Aups is in the first foothills of the Alps. The town is at the gates of Verdon River, at 60km from the sea and 80km from the snow stations.
Aups is named Capital of Haut-Var and Capital of truffle and is integrated in the Parc naturel régional du Verdon since 2000. Its typically Mediterranean climate make the village a heathly place to live.

[edit] History

The village was named Oppidum de Alpibus then Castrum de Alpibus, castrum de Almis, then Alps and now Aups. The place was colonized by the Oxybians during the Ancient Rome, near of Via Aurelia going from Fréjus (Forum Julii) to Riez (Forum Reii). Julius Caesar has visited Aups (Castrum de Alpibus) on the way of the conquest of Gaul and has said « I prefer to be the first in Aups than to be the second in Roma ».

The town has been looted by the Huguenots in 1574. They massacred 18 Aupsois. A "Maiden of the massacre" was erected on the torture place, in the Clock street.
Aups was the centre of the Var Republican insurgency in 1851 against the coup d'Etat of Napoleon III. In December 10, the village was engaged in a real man hunt. Its nickname became The red Center Var.

Aups was a high place of French resistance during World War II. The city earned the Croix de guerre avec palmes.

[edit] Tourism

[edit] Truffles

The Clock street
The Clock street

Aups also has the third largest black truffle market of France, known for its quality and importance. This market is held every Thursday from November to February.

[edit] Provençal Market

There is a colourful Provençal market, every Wednesday and Saturday featuring local products and handicrafts.

[edit] People from Aups

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