The Unesco world heritage of the Cevennes

The Causses and the Cevennes

Shaped by agropastoral activity

A mountain landscape crossed by deep valleys.

An exceptional nature that is reflected in the construction of moors and faïsses (crop terraces), drailles (transhumance paths) created by the breeders of the past, which are still used today for the movement of livestock and by hikers who set off in the footsteps of the shepherds, a built heritage (villages, stone farm buildings…), ancestral know-how and typical and quality products, recognized by national and European labels.

Agropastoralism

Extensive breeding of sheep, goats, cows or horses.

This practice boils down to using available natural resources such as water from streams and grazing on large areas to raise one’s flocks. We are talking about a qualitative model that is characterized by a low density of animal numbers per hectare.

This ancestral mode of animal husbandry allows both thrifty breeding, maintenance of natural environments and preservation of biodiversity through the transport of seeds by the animals on the move.

Transhumance

Migration of livestock between winter pastures and summer pastures.

This seasonal movement, which can cover hundreds of miles and last from a few days to several weeks, between the months of April and June and September and November, allows for herd fattening and reproduction.

Did you know that?

One of the last places where transhumance is practiced

The famous transhumance takes place in this small corner of the Cevennes, near Mount Aigoual. All the more precious, as this ancestral tradition is still active in very few places in the world, where the original paths are used by shepherds and their flocks to reach the summer pasture.

Every year, the transhumance takes place on a weekend in June in Esperou.

The registered territory

The perimeter selected for World Heritage listing does not cover all of the Causses, nor all of the Cévennes, but it does cover 300,000 hectares spread between Gard, Lozère, Hérault and Aveyron.

UNESCO had already taken an interest in the Cévennes and its National Park by designating it as a biosphere reserve in 1985.

134 communes in the “heart zone” corresponding to the classified perimeter
97 communes in the “buffer zone” i.e., a protection perimeter
5 “gateway” towns: Alès, Ganges, Lodève, Millau and Mende

Adventure to this exceptional place through our “gateway” towns that will charm you with their authenticity and their art of living. True guardians of the temple, they will take you to the heart of the classified property as far as the Cévennes National Park, the only permanently inhabited national park in mainland France.

Cévennes National Park

Witness of an ancestral history

The Causses and the Cevennes were traversed, crisscrossed and inhabited as early as the Neolithic period (5,000 BC) by populations who practiced livestock breeding in particular. A passage from the “Life of Saint Benedict of Aniane” (750-821) allows us to deduce that the monks practiced sheep farming and transhumance very early.

Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, agropastoralism is characterized by small farmer-owners and large estates in the hands of nobles and bourgeois.

The regression of the forest, between 1830 and 1913, is accompanied by an increase in pastures at the expense of cultivated land. This evolution is linked to a profound mutation of the agrarian system due to the development of the dairy industry for Roquefort.

From the 1950s, the rural exodus accelerated, as young people demanded more modern living conditions.

The other sites

classified as world heritage by UNESCO around Alès

The Pont du Gard

The bridge was built shortly before the Christian era to allow the Nîmes aqueduct, nearly 50 km long, to cross the Gardon River. In devising this 50-meter-high, three-tiered bridge, Roman hydraulic engineers and architects created a technical masterpiece that has become a true work of art.

Travel time from Alès: 1h

The Palace of the Popes

Avignon was the seat of the papacy in the 14th century. The remains of the famous 12th-century bridge over the Rhone, the Petit Palais and the Romanesque cathedral of Notre-Dame-des-Doms form an exceptional monumental ensemble that testifies to the prominent role played by Avignon in Christian Europe in the 14th century.

Travel time from Alès: 1 hour 15 minutes via freeway or 1 hour 30 minutes without toll

The Chauvet Cave

Situated on a limestone plateau crossed by the meandering river Ardèche, the cave contains the oldest paintings known to date (Aurignacian period: between 30,000 and 32,000 BC.C.).
The cave is not visited but a meticulous reconstruction and unique in the world, the Grotte Chauvet 2 Ardèche is open to the public to discover the identical this extraordinary set of paintings and engravings.

Travel time from Alès: 1h

The Ancient Theatre

In the Rhone Valley, the ancient theater of Orange and its 103-meter long front wall, is one of the best preserved large Roman theaters in the world.

Travel time from Alès: 1h20

Arles, Roman and Romanesque monuments

Arles offers an interesting example of the adaptation of an ancient city to the civilization of medieval Europe. It retains impressive Roman monuments, the oldest of which – arenas, ancient theater, cryptoporticoes – date back to the 1st century B.C.

Travel time from Ales: 1 hour via freeway or 1 hour and 20 minutes without toll

The abbey church

Edified in the 12th century, the abbey of Saint-Gilles was in the Middle Ages, the fourth place of pilgrimage in the Christian world after Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. The Wars of Religion and the sackings of the Revolution have damaged the building. It is composed of scenes from the Old and New Testaments, statues of apostles and a frieze relating the Passion of Christ. The crypt, a real low church, contains the tomb of Saint Gilles.

Travel time from Alès: 1h

The Canal du Midi

With its 360 km of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and its 328 structures, the Canal du Midi network, built between 1667 and 1694, is one of the most extraordinary civil engineering achievements of the modern era, which paved the way for the industrial revolution. The concern for architectural aesthetics and the landscapes created also made it a work of art.

Travel time from Alès to Sète: 1h30 via freeway or 2h without toll

The Gorges du Gardon

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2015.

The Gardon gorges are dominated by garrigues and holm oak forests and offer freshness and humidity, conducive to the development of a rare riverine flora.

Travel time from Alès to Ste-Anastasie: 45min

The Camargue

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1977.

The landscape of this region is distinguished by areas of exceptional natural beauty. Traditional activities and one of the largest bird sanctuaries in France can be discovered.

Travel time from Alès: 1h15

Unesco's World Heritage

The Causses and the Cevennes

Did you know that?

The registered territory

Witness of an ancestral history

The other sites

You will also like