Tras Lou Serre

The temple, built in the 19th century, is original for being circular. Like many other Cevenol municipalities, Ventalon-en-Cévennes has no centre: it is an ensemble of hamlets spread out in the mountains.  

This ensemble of farmhouses (mas) with their characteristic Cevenol architecture and layout has been remarkably well renovated. It is part of Saint-Frézal-de-Ventalon. Two handsome properties set slightly apart precede the hamlet. The first mas has an imposing façade. The studded chestnut door overlooks a beautiful, rounded staircase made from schist flagstones. The houses are partly built onto the bedrock, which is the only way of compensating for the lack of foundations. It also preserved as much fertile soil as possible to be used for irrigated meadows, or terraced gardens equipped with reservoirs that are productive thanks to their good exposure. The roofs are made from tilestones of differing sizes that overlap like shiny scales.

The Destourbe orchard, at over 800 m in altitude, is an orchard of traditional chestnut varieties, most of which are dried in a purpose-built building, a clède. A herd of goats keeps down the undergrowth. Chestnut trees grew naturally in the Cévennes. Then, from the 12th century onwards, Benedictine monks planted, grafted and selected varieties to create chestnut orchards. The chestnut thus became the so-called “bread tree” of the Cevenol people. The most common variety is the Figarette, which is very small, crops early and is excellent clède-dried. The Pélégrine, which is quite big and delicious, is the best variety since it is not internally divided and is easy to peel. Research over the past 30 years has made it possible to rehabilitate chestnut orchards. Treatments for endothia (a fungus that propagates on the bark and ravages chestnut orchards), grafting and pruning as well as technical means to facilitate harvesting (nets, machines for crushing and peeling) now exist. The chestnut has been made more attractive by processing into puree, flour, jam, etc. To promote the Cevenol chestnut orchards, the association “Chemin de la Châtaigne” brings together farmers, artisans, guides and innkeepers.