STATUE DU ROI HENRI IV
The sculpture is the work of Emmanuel Auricoste dated 1954.
This statue symbolizes the recognition of the Marvejolais to the "Good King Henri".
In 1560, the Protestant faith became so important in Marvejols that during the "Saint Bartholomew's Day", the Catholic king of France, Henri III, sent the duke of Joyeuse to take justice in the region. The latter massacred the inhabitants of Marvejols, destroyed the medieval ramparts of the town and took control of the Gévaudan in 1580.
In 1592, Henri IV, a former Protestant who had converted to Catholicism for the Cause, took into consideration the damage of a martyred town in his royal domain. He financed the reconstruction of the heavily damaged 14th century gates and ramparts in honour of the courage and faith of its inhabitants and allowed the town to rebuild itself commercially as well as spiritually.
The sculpture of "Good King Henri", placed in the centre of the square in 1954, is the work of Emmanuel Auricoste who also created the statue of the Beast of Gévaudan which you will find on the Place des Cordeliers.
