Saint-Sauveur: the path of the Dead
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Saint-Sauveur: the path of the Dead
Saint-Sauveur-Camprieu

Saint-Sauveur: the path of the Dead

History and culture
Water and geology
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This is a beautiful circular walk, through pastures and forest, that lets you discover the village of Saint-Sauveur and its tree-themed path. It has pretty views over the Bramabiau valley and its underground river.

4 points of interest

  • History

    The Path of the Dead

    In the Middle Ages and until 1870, the Catholic village of Camprieu had neither church nor cemetery. “Its inhabitants therefore went to the hamlet of Saint-Sauveur de Pourcils. To transport their dead to the remote cemetery, they had to take the ‘Path of the Dead’. They carried the coffins on their backs and, at every rest stop, recited the prayer De Profundis. Funeral processions stopped using the path in summer 1872. That year, the village of Camprieu finally obtained its own cemetery. But the name has stuck: “the Path of the Dead”.
  • History

    La Boissière farm

    La Boissière farm was abandoned by its inhabitants when Mont Aigoual was reforested. A salary from the French National Water and Forestry Commission was so much more secure than the meagre revenues from a farmer’s endless work. You pass through the farm’s porch and walk on its threshing floor – but there are no chickens or cereals on the threshing floor, and no herds ambling to the meadow. Today the forest has won.
  • Water

    The Bonheur river

    The Bramabiau site is an example of a karst spring. Here, slightly east of Camprieu, the Bonheur River has dug into the Causse (limestone plateau) and disappears in a natural tunnel. It re-emerges into the open at the bottom of the Aven de Balset, but it twists to the south to disappear again below ground. The river meanders through more than 10 km of tunnels. Then, 700 horizontal meters from its sinkhole, it reappears as a spring! The rock walls of the narrow canyon magnify the sound of its waters and add to its rumbling some acoustic vibrations that are close to a gigantic roaring. This is no longer the tranquil Bonheur, it is the tumultuous Bramabiau.
  • History

    Camprieu

    In the 19th century, the village streets were bustling year-round with a throng of artisans, labourers and shopkeepers, who lived in these modest mountain houses that were also suitable for livestock rearing. Camprieu had: two cobblers, six clog makers, two basket makers, one carpenter, two wheelwrights, two farriers, one miller, two stonemasons, one glassworks, one sawmill, one dairy, two grocer’s shops, a haberdashery and ironmonger’s and one shop for ladies’ “fashion and dresses”. There was also a cheese cellar that produced Roquefort until 1932, a hotel and an inn.

Description

Signposts will guide you all along this route. In the description below, the signposted place names and/or directions are given in bold italics between quotation marks:

Starting at "Camprieu – parking", make for "ferme de La Boissière" via "La Croix Basse", then "La Croix Haute", "La Clédette",  "St Sauveur", "Ferme de la Boissière". At "ferme de La Boissière" take on the left a small path towards "La Fonderie", "Arboretum  0.1 km", "Les Plots". At "Les Plots", head towards "St-Sauveur-Eglise", "St-Sauveur-Carrefour". Take the track on the right towards "Croix de St-Sauveur", "St-Sauveur-Parking", "Valat de la Fonderie", "Ferme de la Boissière". At the farm, turn left towards "Camprieu" via "Rouveyrolle", "Abîme de Bamabiau", turn right towards "Camprieu-Perte du Bonheur", (there and back to the sinkhole), then "Camprieu – Mairie" and return to the football pitch.

This walk is taken from the guidebook Massif de l’Aigoual, published by the communauté de communes Causses Aigoual Cévennes as part of the collection Espaces naturels gardois and the label Gard Pleine Nature.
  • Departure : Camprieu football stadium
  • Arrival : Camprieu football stadium
  • Towns crossed : Saint-Sauveur-Camprieu

Forecast


Altimetric profile


Recommandations

Make sure your equipment is appropriate for the day’s weather conditions. Remember that the weather changes quickly in the mountains. Take enough water, wear sturdy shoes and put on a hat. Please close all gates and barriers behind you.
Is in the midst of the park
The national park is an unrestricted natural area but subjected to regulations which must be known by all visitors.

Information desks

Tourism & national parc'house

Col de la Serreyrède, 30570 Val d'Aigoual

https://www.sudcevennes.comoffice-du-tourisme-causse@wanadoo.fr04 67 82 64 67

The Maison de l'Aigoual houses the tourism office Mont Aigoual Causses Cévennes and the Maison du Parc national. This visitor centre provides information on and raises awareness of the Cévennes National Park, its sites and events as well as the rules that must be observed in the National Park's central zone.

On site: changing exhibitions, video projections, Festival Nature events and shop Open year-round

Find out more

Transport

liO is the regional public transport service of the Occitanie/ Pyrénées – Méditerranée region. It facilitates everyone’s movements by prioritising public transport. For more information, call 08 10 33 42 73 or go to www.laregion.fr

Access and parking

From Meyrueis or L'Espérou on the D986.

Parking :

Camprieu football stadium

More information


Source

CC Causses Aigoual Cévennes Terres Solidaireshttp://www.caussesaigoualcevennes.fr/
Parc national des Cévenneshttp://www.cevennes-parcnational.fr/
Pôle Nature Aigoual

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