Heritage of the Cévennes

• A. Schröter

The first inhabitants

The first inhabitants settled in the territory in a scattered manner and in ancient times.

The areas of the Hérault Gorges (in particular the Thaurac Massif), the Vis Gorges or the surroundings of Circus of Navacelles revealed human occupation in the caves, particularly benefiting from the proximity of rivers.

Among other archaeological remains, the megaliths of the Causse and Cévennes regions bear witness to a human presence dating back more than 20,000 years. They coincide with the establishment of the first hamlets built by shepherds and farmers. These are the beginnings of agropastoralism on our territory, now recognized by UNESCO.

Located at the confluence of schist, granite, and limestone, the rugged and varied Cévennes landscape is dominated by the Mont Aigoual on the Gard side and nicknamed the "water tower of the Cévennes". These reliefs were successively inhabited by the Celts then the Romans who developed the cultivation of vines and olive trees and exploited a subsoil very rich in minerals (copper, argentiferous lead), like the mines of Les Jumeaux, in the commune of Sumène.

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The Middle Ages

The Benedictine abbeys of Saint-Victor-de-Marseille and Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert extended their possessions in the Cévennes: the monks cleared new areas for cultivation (notably by creating terraces) where vines, sweet onions, legumes and olive trees flourished… They paved the paths and also developed chestnut plantations, "the breadfruit tree" The inhabitants of the Cévennes region, through their presence, encouraged people to partially abandon their hilltop settlements and move to the valley floor: the hamlet of Navacelles saw the construction of its first neighborhood (Mas Guilhou), and Sumène that of La Courral. For centuries, through long and patient work, humankind shaped the mountain.

Between scrubland and high mountains, facing the monks, two great lords reigned over these territories: the Baron of Hierle and the Baron of Roquefeuil, each building castles and fortified towns (roquedur, Esparon, Le Caladon, Aumessas, Montardier ou Vissec) most of which were razed following the Albigensian Crusade (1208-1249). As for the Ganges region, Ganges itself gained importance from the 12th century onwards, confirming its status as a commercial crossroads and building ramparts for its protection. The town's lords tenaciously succeeded in obtaining charters and privileges for the city, which were jealously guarded for several centuries.

The first industries developed in parallel within the towns: tanneries, cooperages…

Our villages

• CSTO

The Wars of Religion

Le Vigan and its territory thrive on fairs, trade and wool processing: Vigan or Petit-Lodève cloth, stockings, hats…

In the 16th century, Protestantism found fertile ground in the Cévennes, dividing the population between Catholics and Protestants. Fratricidal struggles ensued and continued intermittently until the beginning of the 18th century. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) forced thousands of Protestants into exile.

For those who remained, it was a period of resistance, during which religion was lived in secret or "in the desert", with the threat of the galleys or imprisonment... Traces of the occupation by the royal armies are still palpable: the current Lucie Aubrac Media Library in Ganges is located in the former barracks, the Place du Fort in Aumessas features dwellings also requisitioned to house the troops... Numerous memorial sites commemorate these painful episodes, such as at the Col de Mouzoules.

The Age of Enlightenment

The spirit of the Enlightenment gradually dispelled intolerance. New ideas arrived in the Cévennes, carried by supporters of the Great Encyclopedia such as the writer Angliviel de la Beaumelle, born in Valleraugue, or Count Esterházy, Marie Antoinette's confidant from Vigan.

Le Vigan was then a small capital of the western Cévennes, crossed by the royal road from Aix to Montauban and boasting elegant residences. The silkworm farms and spinning mills still tell the story of silk, a providential material whose know-how reached the Cévennes as early as the 13th century, but whose true golden age only began in the 19th century.

• Virginie Govignon

• Hervé Leclair

• Slate

The Industrial Age

Silk thread production transitioned from a craft to an industry, and the quality and advanced technology of local products (like the Bas Lys from Bonneterie Brun d'Arre) opened up markets worldwide. Ganges became the hosiery capital, with spinning mills spreading throughout the Cévennes region, some towns boasting dozens, employing a predominantly local and female workforce. However, this prosperity was not without its challenges, as working conditions were particularly precarious for meager wages. In 1906, the spinners of Ganges launched an unprecedented strike, the first women's strike in the industrial sector, and their movement spread throughout the Cévennes spinning mills.

Even today, in Le Vigan, the Well factories bear witness to this long textile tradition. The last spinning mill in the Cévennes closed its doors in the 1960s. Travelers can still glimpse these majestic buildings along the rivers, sometimes hidden around a bend in a valley.

At the end of the 19th century, the region was transformed by the construction of the railway (initially linking Lunel to Le Vigan in 1874, then extended to Roquefort-Tournemire in 1896). Access to the Cévennes mountains was facilitated, as was the transport of agricultural and manufactured goods to ports and major cities. The Arre Valley, starting from Le Vigan and heading up towards Alzon, offers the opportunity to discover this railway heritage, of which Aumessas is the jewel.

In terms of landscape evolution, the reforestation of the Aigoual massif led by botanist Charles Flahault and forestry engineer Georges Fabre restored a substantial forest cover to the massif and thus limited soil erosion and its sometimes disastrous consequences (particularly during Cévennes episodes).