Le Montlouvier

3 points of interest

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  The Catholic church and its bell-gable

  The church is remarkable for its bell-gable and has been a listed building since 15 February 1995. The bell bears the date of its casting: 1539. Like other bells, it used to ring the hour and summon the faithful to worship. But in the days of steam trains, it also warned locals of any fires started by escarbilles (small bits of coal). At the time, there were no firemen; the inhabitants were responsible for fighting fires. (bell visible in church).

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  St-Peyre rock

  To evoke the site of St Peyre, here is a text by C. Chante, taken from his work Un coin des Cévennes. Le Vigan et ses environs (1933). “All of a sudden, an oak grove appears that surrounds a small clearing where some leftover rocks, laid out in an elongated oval, seem to indicate a cromlech. At one end stands the antique structure, which the centuries have respected and which the Christians never thought to come and destroy on this almost inaccessible escarpment. There can be no doubt about its purpose: it is clearly a Druidic altar, made from granite blocks set out in a semicircle with a gradient, whence the priest must have harangued the faithful before or after the sacrifice (…).”

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  Aumessas village

  Aumessas was called Ulmensacium in 1248, from Latin ulmus meaning elm.
  In 1769 1,300 inhabitants lived here (240 at the most recent census), the majority of them on the lower lands, below 600m. Their income was derived partly from chestnut growing but mostly from silk farming. On the eve of the French Revolution, 54 silk manufacturers made Aumessas their home. The other inhabitants were shepherds. They lived up in the mountains. The land belonged to the landed gentry, the middle classes or merchants.