Allos
The historical centre of Allos was fortified in the pastimes and endowed, in the XVII century, of 32 chapels and a number of fountains, with the water supplied by the Chadoulin torrent, an out flowing...
Read moreBarles
The village of Barles is worldwide known among geologists for the peculiarities of its territory, where giant fossil ammonites can be found which date back to 200 million years ago. The area is protec...
Read moreCamarés
A reference to Camarès can be found in the IX century when it belonged to the abbey of Vabres. It was a fortress of the Protestant troops in the XVI century, during the religious wars. The char...
Read moreCarcassonne
Carcassonne is a very ancient town: its name was mentioned by Plinio the Old in the I century BC but the upper town, the Cité, dates back 2,500 years. Carcassonne indeed rises on an important w...
Read moreCaunes-Minervois
The village is located on the left bank of the Argent-Double and it encircles the Benedictine Abbey which was the original settlement founded in 982. The Carolingian structure was widened in the XII c...
Read moreCrestet
Crestet is a very ancient village, founded by the Saracens around the VII or VIII century. The castle on the ridge peak belongs to a later epoch (XII century) and it was used until the French revoluti...
Read moreFlorac
Florac is the small capital of the Cévennes, located in the Tarn valley. Other two rivers flow into Florac: the Tarnon and the Mimente, both affluent of the Tarn. In the town centre, there is t...
Read moreFoix
The old town of Foix is located on the confluence of the Ariège with the Arget, on a rocky spur full of caves inhabited in the prehistoric epoch, as evidenced by cave paintings and other retrie...
Read moreFraïsse sur Agôut
The lovely, tiny village has many small blooming gardens: various groups of sparse houses base their wealth on fishing and bathing tourism in the local ponds or lakes. Archaeological vestiges dating b...
Read moreGorges de La Frau
The gorges are located in an extraordinary chalky place and extend along 3 km, with overhanging walls being 3-400m high. The name probably comes from the Latin term fragor, in its double meaning of no...
Read moreLa Couvertoirade
La Couvertoirade is an ancient Templar castle still surrounded by encircling walls and towers. A reference to the “Cubertoirata” can be found in the XI century as property of the Gellone a...
Read moreLabastide-de-Virac
The village of Labastide-de-Virac, rising on a relief, is dominated by the castle of the Counts of Roure (XIV-XV century). They were Huguenots, later converted to Catholicism after the revocation of t...
Read moreLagrasse
The medieval village of Lagrasse (XII-XIII century), commendably preserved, arose near the Benedictine abbey of Ste-Marie d'Orbieu, founded in the VIII century. The impressive abbey complex, entirely...
Read moreLe Vigan
Le Vigan is the main centre of the southern Cévennes, on the borders of the massif of Mont Aigoual. It has been inhabited since ancient times, and in the Middle Ages it was an important Benedic...
Read moreLe-Pont-de-Montvert
Le-Pont-de-Montvert is one of the most charming places of the Cévennes. It was of great strategic importance in the past because of its bridge over the Tarn, on the road linking Mende and Porte...
Read moreLes Vans
The foundation of Les Vans dates back to the XII century. It experienced a period of strong expansion in the XIX century, thanks to silkworm breeding and silk weaving. The historical silk mill (rue du...
Read moreMalaucène
Malaucène is a small walled village of which two gates ,the ruins of the walls, narrow lanes and houses with renaissance portals in calcareous ashlars, and a few medieval buildings are all that...
Read moreMinerve
Minerve and its surrounding chalky uplands have been inhabited since the Paleolithic. The fortified town developed considerably during the Middle Ages and this is known because of the siege raised in ...
Read moreMont Ventoux
Mont Ventoux (1912 m) is an insulated calcareous massif extending over about 25 kilometres: for this reason it is also renowned as ‘the Giant of Provence’. Its Occitan name is Mont Ventor,...
Read moreMontagne de Lure
The Montagne de Lure is a long ridge stretching from the west to the east. It is mainly calcareous and its geological origins belong to the massif of Mont Ventoux. It is characterized by wooded sides ...
Read moreMontbrun-les-Bains
Montbrun-les-Bains is a small medieval village located at the confluence between the two torrents Anary and Toulorenc. It is classified as one of the 100 most beautiful small villages of France. It is...
Read moreMonze
Monze was an old fortified village on the “wool lane” to Carcassonne, and its only entrance was the nice three-arched bridge (XIII century) on the stream La Bretonne. The old town preserve...
Read moreQuillan
A reference to the castle can be found in the X century, but the expansion of the village along the river dates back to the XIII century. Quillan was one of the spots where the crusade against the Alb...
Read moreRéserve naturelle des Gorges de l’Ardèche
The gorges of Ardèche (Réserve naturelle des Gorges de l'Ardèche) is a protected area spread over 1575 hectares of forest, with a river flowing through its centre, winding with n...
Read moreRoquefixade
Roquefixade is a very tiny but nice village, with a wide square and a church with a bell gable. The XI century castle has steep walls and a tower looming over the village. During the crusade the castl...
Read moreSault-en-Provence
Sault-en-Provence is a very ancient town. There are important pre-historical sites in its surroundings, dating back to the Mousterian era (the Aubesier grotto) and of the Neolithic, with the presence ...
Read moreSeyne-les-Alpes
In Seyne-les-Alpes the church of Notre-Dame de Nazareth is worth a visit. It is in Romanesque-Provencal style (XII-XIII century), in visible stone ashlars. It is an aisle-less church and it has two re...
Read moreSisteron
The historical centre of Sisteron deserves a thorough visit. The cathedral of Notre-Dame and St-Thyrse was built in the XII century and it is considered one of the greatest examples of the Provencal-R...
Read moreSt-Dalmas-le-Selvage
St-Dalmas-le-Selvage is worth a visit, with its parish church having a fine eighteenth-century steeple and preserves two triptychs of the XVI century (of the Virgin and St. Pancras). The parish church...
Read moreSt-Pierre-des-Champs
The village, facing the course of the river Orbieu, is dominated by its castle (XIII century), belonging to the abbey of Lagrasse. It was the base of the crusaders during the siege of Termes. The vill...
Read moreThe bridge on the Rhone and Pont St. Esprit
Pont-St-Esprit.The medieval bridge is about a kilometre long and rests on 25 lowered arches. Since 1309 it is, according to poet Frédéric Mistral’s definition, the “golden ga...
Read moreThe Canal du Midi
The Canal du Midi links the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through various streams and the waterway of the Garonne, connecting the towns of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Béziers and Sè...
Read moreThe castle of Peyrepertuse
The village of Duilhac has medieval origins (XI century) and it probably arose around the Romanesque structure of the church of St-Michel, built with a single nave and a semicircular apse. It preserve...
Read moreThe castle of Puivert.
What remains of the castle are the quadrangular walls and their six towers. It was built at the beginning of the XIV century, therefore after the crusade, where there used to be a fortress of the XI c...
Read moreThe Castle of Termes
From the XI century on, the Castle of Termes housed the Lords of Termes, who owned the wide border district which bordered with Aragon. The aristocratic family had frequent conflicts with the close ab...
Read moreThe Causse de Blandas
The Causse de Blandas is a karstic upland delimited by the course of the Arre to the north and the Vis and the Causse de Larzac to the south. Around 800 hectares of the upland are protected as a Site ...
Read moreThe Chapelle de Dromont
Just beyond the pass of Le Malpas, there is the Chapelle de Dromont, with a crypt dating back to the Merovingian epoch (VII century). The church preserves fragments of Carrara marble of roman epoch an...
Read moreThe Dentelles de Montmirail
The Dentelles de Montmirail are the farthest western strip of land of the massif of the Baronnies, which includes the Montagne de Lure and Mont Ventoux. The Dentelles de Montmirail owe their name to t...
Read moreThe dolmen of St-Eugène
The dolmen of St-Eugène is reached by turning right at the first junction and going through the Aleppo pine wood; this megalithic structure is formed by a mound with an entrance that is 4 m lon...
Read moreThe Eco-museum of pastoral farming
Pontebernardo hosts the Eco-museum of pastoral farming, a useful opportunity for the knowledge and enhancement of the traditional pastoral heritage of the Stura valley. The eco-museum is also the seat...
Read moreThe fort of Vinadio
Before setting out for the walk, the fort of Vinadio deserves a visit. It was built between 1834 and 1847 by King Carlo Alberto of Savoy. Its defence line consists of ramparts, moats, passageways and ...
Read moreThe gorges and the Cirque des Navacelles
The gorges and the Cirque des Navacelles can be seen from the Blandas viewpoint. The Cirque des Navacelles is a dead meander of the river where the homonymous village is located, on the hill in the mi...
Read moreThe Gorges de Galamus
The stream Agly dug a narrow gorge in the limestone and dolomites dating back from the Lower Jurassic to the lower Cretaceous (between 205 and 108 million years ago). The two sides look very different...
Read moreThe lake of Allos
The lake of Allos (54 hectares)is the widest natural lake at a high altitude in Northern Europe. There is a hotel-refuge on its shore and slightly above there is the small church of Notre-Dame des Mon...
Read moreThe Merdelou
The Merdelou is an important mountain for the Occitan world. It is part of the Monts de Lacaune, the southern foothills of the Massif Central, and its crest represents the watershed between the Medite...
Read moreThe mill of La Foux
The mill of La Foux is located at the resurgence of the Vis; although the river starts at an altitude of 1300 m on the Montagne du Lingas, it sinks below the chalky upland of the Larzac. The waters co...
Read moreThe Moulin de Trédos
The Moulin de Trédos was built in the middle of the XVII century over some Roman ruins. The mill is fed by a complex system of irrigation ditches (besals o beals) and is nowadays a tourist faci...
Read moreThe Parc National des Cévennes
The Parc National des Cévennes is spread over a territory with an extremely low population density (about 10 inhabitants per square kilometre), due to a massive exodus of the population started...
Read moreThe Pech de Bugarach
The Pech de Bugarach (m 1230) is the first true Pyrenean peak on the route and it is the summit of the Corbières massif. It is interesting from the geological point of view as the more recent l...
Read moreThe upland of Sault
The chalky upland of Sault was named after the Latin word saltus, forest, since the whole district of the Pays de Sault is rich in forests. The average altitude of the upland is around 800-900 metres....
Read moreVaison-la-Romaine
Vaison-la-Romaine has ancient origins, as revealed by its name. Actually, up to the XIX century, not much was known about the Gallic-Roman town lying under the modern settlement and on the previous Ce...
Read moreVielha
Vielha is a busy winter resort with a small old town arisen on the confluence of the stream Nere with the Garonne. In ancient times some celtic-basque populations were living in the valley and a tribe...
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