Le Devois cross

3 points of interest

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  Forest management

  The Mont Aigoual forest.
  The wood harvested here comes from a forest that was reforested from the late 19th century onwards, after a period of overgrazing. This forest begins, grows and dies like all living beings. The job of foresters is to manage and support its development while respecting the laws of nature. They harvest trees before they die to make room for young trees. These tree trunks supply an entire economic sector, from the lumberjack to the skidder operator, the saw operator and the carpenter or cabinetmaker. Wood also accompanies you throughout your lives, from your cradle, furniture, woodwork and the wooden frame of your house to your coffin.

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  The Commanders

  You are on a ridge path on the so-called “Commanders’ crests”. It is the last trace of the fact that this area belonged, from 1312 onwards, to the Knights Hospitaller and then to the Knights of Malta, who were based at the nearby hamlet of Servillières, at their “Commandery of Meyrueis and Servillières”. You are here on the border between the Gard and Lozère, marked by a standing stone. This ridge path is called the “wolf pen drovers’ road”, a variant thousands of years old of the main drovers’ road of La Lusette between L'Espérou and Meyrueis. Transhumant livestock would overnight here, in a closed-off space safe from wolves.

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  Pierre plantée (Pierre plantée)

  Since ancient times, stones have stood along the Camin Ferrat: directional markers indicating a crossroads. Above all, they marked the boundaries of two parishes. Since the creation of Departments in 1790, they have outlined the border between Gard and Lozère.