La vallée de la Salindrenque - Escapades à vélo

6 points of interest

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  Rocher de la Lune

  The Rocher de la Lune (“moon rock”) is a granite block that is typical of the blockfields which are scattered throughout the vale, from the riverbed to the top of the ridges. This granite block is split in two and used to reflect the moon’s silvery rays before it was covered by vegetation.
  Oral memory reports that the rock was once painted but that might be a local joke...

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  Solier Castle

  The downhill section to Lasalle goes past Solier Castle, built in the late 19th century. It has a large machicolated keep with an embrasure for a cannon, mullioned windows and gemel bays. The castles at Algues, Calviac, Cornély, Prades and Soulages are older, having been built from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

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  Les Horts hamlet

  The hamlet got its name from the Latin hortus, meaning garden. The presence of many springs and waterways contributed to the expansion of dry-stone terraces for growing crops (bancels or faïsses). Les Horts had a watermill.

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  Flora

  The stone or umbrella pine

  In the distance in the Lasalle valley there is dense, dark green vegetation. The stone or umbrella pine has a very characteristic opened-out shape, which resembles an umbrella from a distance. This conifer is at home especially in the Mediterranean basin. It prefers dry, deep and cool soils. Its bark is reddish and cracked. Its fruit, the pine nut, is often used in pastry cooking.

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  Cemetery history

  The walk leads you past the village cemetery, which was in fact the Protestant cemetery. Soudorgues also has a Catholic cemetery, another particularity brought about by the turbulent history of the Reformation. Catholic cemeteries did not accept “non-Christians” or “heretic Christians”. There were countless exhumations of Protestant bodies in the 16th century. To put an end to this injustice, the Edict of Nantes ordered that “convenient” cemeteries be built for those who followed the so-called reformed religion. When the Edict was revoked, the order was also dropped. Huguenots had to renounce their religion to be buried in 'family” cemeteries in the countryside. Today, only the owners of these on-site cemeteries still have the right to be buried in them.

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  Lime kiln

  The process of burning limestone to make lime has been used since the Bronze Age. The lime was mixed with sand to make mortar for building houses. Concrete was not known until the early 19th century. Lime is also a powerful antiseptic and was used to disinfect buildings, especially sheepfolds. The kiln operator had to maintain the kiln temperature at 800 to 1,000°C. Plaster was made from gypsum deposits using the same principle.