Cévennes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Cévennes are a range of mountains

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

in south-central France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, covering parts of the départements of Gard

Gard

Gard is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.The department is named after the River Gard, although the formerly Occitan name of the River Gard, Gardon, has been replacing the traditional French name in recent decades, even among French speakers.- History...

, Lozère

Lozère

Lozère , is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central, named after Mont Lozère.- History :Lozère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

, Ardèche

Ardèche

Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...

, and Haute-Loire

Haute-Loire

Haute-Loire is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.-History:Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish

Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...

Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

to Cevenna. The Cévennes are named Cemmenon (Κέμμενων) in Strabo's Geographica

Geographica (Strabo)

The Geographica , or Geography, is a 17-volume encyclopedia of geographical knowledge written in Greek by Strabo, an educated citizen of the Roman empire of Greek descent. Work can have begun on it no earlier than 20 BC...

.

The average population density is 14/km².

The Cévennes are a part of the Massif Central

Massif Central

The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....

. They run from southwest (Montagne Noire

Montagne Noire

* Not to be confused with the Montagnes Noires in Brittany.The Montagne Noire is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central in the border area of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments...

) to northeast (Monts du Vivarais

Vivarais

Vivarais is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the département of Ardèche, named after its capital Viviers on the river Rhône...

), with the highest point being the Mont Lozère

Mont Lozère

Mont Lozère is the highest peak in the Cévennes National Park of France. There is also a secondary peak, at .Mont Lozère is commonly used for skiing during the winter months. It is also a popular destination for school/college/university groups during the summer months . It offers some stunning...

(1702m). Another notable peak is the Mont Aigoual

Mont Aigoual

Mont Aigoual is the highest point of the Gard département, France. It is part of the Massif Central, and it is located within the Cévennes National Park....

(1567m). The Loire and Allier

Allier River

The Allier is a river in central France, and is the left tributary to the Loire River. Its source is in the Massif Central, in the Lozère département, east of Mende. It flows generally north...

flowing towards the Atlantic ocean, the Ardèche

Ardèche River

The Ardèche is a 125 km long river in south-central France, a right-bank tributary of the Rhône River. Its source is in the Massif Central, near the village of Astet. It flows into the Rhône near Pont-Saint-Esprit, north-west of Orange...

and tributary Chassezac

Chassezac

The Chassezac is an long river in the Lozère, Gard and Ardèche départements, southern France, right tributary of the Ardèche. Its source is in the commune of Saint-Frézal-d'Albuges, km northeast of Les Chazeaux, main hamlet in the commune...

, Cèze

Cèze

The Cèze is a French river, a tributary of the Rhone. It runs through the departments of Lozère and Gard in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Its source is in the Cévennes mountains, near Saint-André-Capcèze...

, the different Gardons to the Rhône

Rhône River

The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. At Arles, near its mouth on the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides into two branches, known as the Great Rhone and the Little Rhone...

, Vidourle

Vidourle

The Vidourle is a river in southern France, flowing into the Mediterranean Sea in Le Grau-du-Roi. Its source is in the Cévennes mountains, northwest of Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort, at Saint-Roman-de-Codières. It flows generally southeast...

, Hérault

Hérault River

The Hérault is a river of southern France. Its length is . Its source is in the Cévennes mountains. It reaches the Mediterranean Sea near Agde...

and Dourbie

Dourbie

Dourbie is also a tributary of the Hérault river-----The Dourbie is a 72 km long river in southern France, left tributary of the Tarn River. Its source is north of Le Vigan, in the Cévennes...

rivers to the sea source in the Cévennes. The region hosts Cévennes National Park

Cévennes National Park

The Cévennes National Park is a national park located in southern France, in the mountainous area of Cévennes.Created in 1970, the park has its administrative seat in Florac at Florac Castle. It is located mainly in the départements of Lozère and Gard, and covers some parts of Ardèche and Aveyron...

, created in 1970 and the Parc Naturel Régional des Monts d'Ardèche. Two canyons are near the region: the Gorges de la Jonte (the Jonte River gorge) and the Gorges du Tarn

Gorges du Tarn

The Gorges du Tarn is a canyon formed by the Tarn River between the Causse Méjean and the Causse de Sauveterre, in southern France. The canyon, mainly located in the Lozère département, and partially in the Aveyron département, is about -long and 400m to 600m deep.-Geography:The architecture of...

(the Tarn River

Tarn River

The Tarn is a long river in southern France , right tributary of the Garonne.The Tarn runs in a roughly westerly direction, from its source at an altitude of 1,550 m on Mont Lozère in the Cévennes mountains , through the deep gorges and canyons of the Gorges du Tarn The Tarn is a long...

gorge).

The region is known for its large community of Protestants, or Huguenots. During the reign of Louis XIV, much of the Huguenot population fled France, particularly following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes

Edict of Nantes

The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...

in 1685, but the community in the Cévennes largely remained in place, protected from attack by the hilly terrain. In 1702, this population, dubbed the Camisard

Camisard

Camisards were French Protestants of the rugged and isolated Cevennes region of south-central France, who raised an insurrection against the persecutions which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685...

s, rose up against the monarchy. The two sides agreed to peace in 1715.

In French, the adjective derived from "Cévennes" is Cévenol (fem. Cévenole), as in d'Indy

Vincent d'Indy

Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...

's Symphonie Cévenole, a composer of Ardèche

Ardèche

origin (known in English as his "Symphony on a French Mountain Air"). The mountain range also gives its name to a meteorological effect when cold air from the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

coast meets warm air of southern winds from the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

and causes heavy autumnal downpours, often leading to floods. These are called épisodes cévenols.

In 2005 the French boutique car maker PGO

PGO (Automobile)

PGO Automobiles is a French car manufacturer, producing exclusive series' of sports cars. The brand operates in the same special market as Lotus, Wiesmann, Donkervoort and Morgan...

introduced a model named for the region.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

See also

External links