MTB 6 - Hures – graded red

3 points of interest

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  Fauna

  Przewalski’s horse

  Przewalski’s horses, the last wild horses in the world, are originally from Central Asia. They had been extinct in the wild for 40 years when a conservation herd was bred at Le Villaret with a view to reintroducing the species to Mongolia. Two deliveries of four families and a group of studs to Khomiin Tal, Mongolia, were organised in 2004 and 2005. There, the animals were released onto a territory of 14,000 hectares.

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  Agriculture

  Saubert mill

  As you leave the hamlet of Saubert, you will see a ruined windmill. Several windmills were built on the Causse Méjean around the 18th century. They ground the grains grown on the plateau, making locals less dependent on mills in the valleys.
  The vestiges of four mills can still be seen, one of which was entirely restored in 2018: La Borie mill. A local flour industry has developed, with bakers using it to make the Méjeannette loaf. La Borie mill can be visited between Easter and Halloween. 

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  Architecture

  The church of Hures

  The church was founded in the 11th century by the Benedictine monks of Sainte-Enimie to expand their arable land. It was built in four stages:
  - The choir in the early and the nave in the late 12th century,
  - the right-hand chapel in the 14th century,
  - the left-hand chapel in the 18th century.
  Each enlargement of the building corresponded to an increase in the Causse population. The nave has a beautiful window. To the right of the entrance is a funereal recess, which probably belonged to a local dignitary and in which were deposited a number of bones removed from the buried body.