The Causse Méjean circuit, GR de Pays

12 points of interest

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  Agriculture

  Terrace

  Throughout the climb, you will see abandoned former crop terraces. A few grapevines have persisted since local wine-growing came to an end. They bear witness to the fact that the slopes around these hamlets and villages were once cultivated and planted with fruit trees and vines. Terraces like these were the only way for the valley's inhabitants to have flat areas with deep soil suitable for growing.

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  History

  Hyelzas

  In the hamlet of Hyelzas, a typical Causse plateau farm has been recreated down to the last detail. It consists of several buildings made from the local material: limestone. Visitors will learn how the traditional life of inhabitants of the Causse Méjean was organised in the 19th century. Their activities followed the rhythm of the seasons. 

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  History

  L'Homme-Mort (Dead Man’s) Cave

  In 1867 Dr Barthélémy Prunières and Prof Paul Broca discovered some 50 human skeletons from the Chalcolithic or Copper Age (2,200 to 1,800 BC) in this cavity with its almost round entrance. It was the first ever discovery in France of skulls bearing signs of trepanning-style lesions that were in the process of scarring over. Trepanning was carried out using a flint drill. The surgeon operated rather brutally to begin with, but once the cancellous bone had been penetrated, he seems to have drilled into the internal table of the skull bone more carefully. The individuals treated in this way were normally adults.
  In some cases, where the skull had previously been staved in, the purpose was probably to relieve the injury.

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  Fauna

  Vultures

  You are close to the historic site where the griffon vulture was reintroduced from 1982 onwards. Since then, the cinereous vulture (1992) and the bearded vulture (2012) have also been reintroduced. The Egyptian vulture returned of its own accord in 1986. It nested locally in 1997, but it remains rare and very localised in this region. In the Mediterranean basin, the presence of vultures is associated with sheep farming and herd mortality.

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  Landscape

  Balcon du vertige (vertigo balcony)

  This site, almost 400m above the bed of the Jonte, deserves it name. It is the only spot on the walk from which you have such breathtaking views over the gorge. Opposite you is the Causse Noir, with a heavily fissured rock in the foreground, the Ranc del Pater, on which remain some wall sections of Saint Michael’s hermitage (former château of Montorsier). The tall rectangular cliff on its right is known as Roc Fabié. If you lean forwards, you can see, from upstream to downstream, La Caze and Le Truel hamlets, and below you the Maison des Vautours (vulture belvedere), which was opened in 1998 and traces the local history of vultures. 
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  Agriculture

  Capluc and its terraces

  As you leave Capluc, you become aware of how the site, which at first sight seems barren, has in fact been shaped by humans. All of this south-facing slope, which is protected by the tall dolomite cliffs, was farmed using terraces (grains, fruit trees, grapevines). Temperatures are so favourable that the most southern Mediterranean vegetation of the region grows here (narrow-leaved ash, jasmine, Montpellier maple, holm oak, etc.). 

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  History

  Capluc

  Capluc was once a defensive and surveillance site, with a castle that (like many of the village’s houses) no longer exists. Some of the houses were renovated once a track suitable for motor vehicles was opened to the hamlet. The name Capluc is believed to come from cap and luz, meaning head and light, thus symbolising the place illuminated by the first rays of the rising sun. 

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  Fauna

  Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)

  A hyperactive on its perch. With its long pointed wings, it flutters very rapidly, swallowing insects in the process. It has difficulty hiding its agitation as it perches in well-exposed places, rapidly flexing its legs and moving its tail as if it has the hiccups.

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  Architecture

  Rieisse

  "On the square in the hamlet of Rieisse, you'll be able to admire a communal oven. The gable of the house right next to it has gutters which lead into a former cistern inside. All the rainwater from the roof converged on this tank, inside the kitchen, via gutters that were made first of wood and later of zinc. The cistern has a depth of 2 to 5 m and a capacity of 10,000 to 30,000 litres. When the foundations of the sheepfold were dug, Roman pottery for keeping resin was found. Indeed, whenever pine trees were felled, the resin was extracted and sent to the coast, where it was used to caulk boats. (M.P Leroy-Delmer)

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  Archaeology

  The White Lady of Anilhac

  The valley of Carnac is one of the most fertile on the Causse. The relatively deep soils and numerous wells (17 in Caussignac) have attracted over a third of the plateau’s population. Its tumuli (individual tombs) have been excavated; one is believed to date from the Iron Age. Next to some carbonised bones, a large quantity of jewels was found here, which proved both the gender and the social status of the buried person. She has been nicknamed the White Lady of Anilhac.

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  History

  Le Buffre cross

  This is one of the oldest and most handsome crosses in Lozère. On its cylindrical pedestal (12th c.), which is set on three steps, two persons face each other on either side of a holy water basin representing a human face. The basin is carved into the pedestal and also projects from it. The more recent actual cross is believed to date from the 18th century. Le Buffre cross is one of many that dot the Saint Guilhem route, to both guide and encourage pilgrims. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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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.