French Coins 20 Francs 1993 Mediterranean Games
Commemorative issue: 1993 Mediterranean Games, Languedoc-Roussillon
Obverse: General view of Tower of Constance (La Tour de Constance) in Aigues-Mortes at center; along the top edge: RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE (French Republic).
Lettering: REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE PONCE • BUQUOY.
Reverse: above the coin centre in two lines face value: 20 FRANCS; on both sides laurel branches; below among the waves inscription: JEUX MEDITERRANEENS (Mediterranean Games); along the top edge motto of France: LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE (liberty, equality, fraternity), along the bottom edge year of issue 1993 divided by logo of the Games.
Lettering: LIBERTE • EGALITE • FRATERNITE 20 FRANCS JEUX MEDITERRANEENS 1993.
Engraver: G. Buquoy.
Edge: five plain and five reeded sections.
Designer: Daniel Ponce, Gérard Buquoy (signatures PONCE ٠ BUQUOY below a bridge leading to the tower in the obverse).
Mint: Paris Mint mark La Monnaie de Paris (The Paris Mint), Pessac (mint mark before year of issue in the reverse, after year of issue privy mark of mint's director Emile Rousseau - dolphin).
Mintage: 5000011.
Face value: 20 Francs.
Composition: Tri-Metallic: Rim and center: Cu 92%, Al 6%, Ni 2% - Between: Ni.
Diameter: 27 mm.
Weight: 9 g.
Thickness: 2.23 mm.
1993 Mediterranean Games
The 12th edition of the Mediterranean Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France from the June 16 to June 27, 1993.
Mediterranean Games
The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport games held every four years, between nations around or very close to the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The games are under the hospices of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM).
The idea was proposed at the 1948 Summer Olympics by Muhammed Taher Pasha, chairman of the Egyptian Olympic Committee and vice-president of the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.), assisted by the Greek member of the I.O.C. Ioannis Ketseas. In 1949 an unofficial event was held in Istanbul, Turkey but the first official Mediterranean Games were held in Egypt in 1951.
The Games were inaugurated on October 1951, in Alexandria, Egypt, in honour of Muhammed Taher Pasha, with contests being held in 13 sports along with the participation of 734 athletes from 10 countries. In 1955, in Barcelona, during the II Games, the set up was decided of a Supervisory and Controlling Body for the Games, a kind of Executive Committee. The decisions were finally materialized on June 16, 1961, and the said Body was named, upon a Greek notion, ICMG (International Committee for the Mediterranean Games).
The first 11 games took place always one year preceding the Summer Olympic Games. However, from 1993 on, they were held the year following the Olympic games. This transition meant that the only time the Mediterranean Games were not held four years after the previous Games was in 1993, when Languedoc-Roussillon in France hosted the Games just two years after Athens.
Tower of Constance (Aigues-Mortes)
The Tower of Constance was built in 1242 by Saint-Louis on the former site of the Matafère Tower which was built by Charlemagne around 790AD to house the king’s garrison. The construction was completed in 1254.
It is 22 metres in diameter with a height of either 33 or 40 metres depending on the source. The thickness of the walls at the base is 6 metres.
On the ground floor, there is a guardroom protected by a portcullis. In the middle of the room, there is a circular opening leading to the cellar which served as a pantry, storage of ammunition as well as for dungeons. These areas were called the “culs de basse fosse”, an old way of saying underground dungeons in French.
On the first floor, there is the knight’s hall. Structurally it is similar to the guardroom. It was in this room that the Protestants were imprisoned during the 18th century, most notably Marie Durand, who engraved the word “résister” (English: resist) into the edge of the well which can be seen to this day. She was imprisoned at the age of 15, and was freed 38 years later, along with political prisoners such as Abraham Mazel, leader of the Camisards.
Between these two rooms, a narrow, covered way was built within the walls to keep watch on the room below.
After the knight’s hall, there is an entrance to the terrace which offers a wide panoramic view of the region, making it an ideal position for surveillance. Sometimes, the prisoners were allowed to go on the terrace to get some fresh air.
The ramparts stretch for a distance of 1650 metres. Spectacular in their height and their state of preservation even though they were not restored in the 19th century, as was Carcassonne for example, they remain in a well preserved state. Along with the Tower of Constance, they are a testimony to Western European military architecture in the marshlands during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Aigues-Mortes (Occitan: Aigas Mòrtas) is a French commune in the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France.
Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitan: Lengadòc-Rosselhon; Catalan: Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean Sea on the other side. It is the southernmost region of mainland France.