Plateau de Millevaches
Encyclopedia
Limousin (région)
Limousin is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of three départements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1st 2008, the Limousin comprised 740,743 inhabitants on nearly 17 000 km2, making it the second least populated region of...
région of 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...
. It covers approximately 3,500 km² and crosses the boundaries of three French départements: the Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
, the Creuse
Creuse
Creuse is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.-History:Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche....
and the Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...
.
The majority of the area is at an altitude of between 600m and 1000m.
Etymology
Millevacas (12th century); Mille vacce (14th century, latinized Form).The Plateau de Millevaches or Millevaches Massif reportedly means “thousand cows” according to the ancient mentions. In the original North Occitan language, it sounds miuvachas (mila being occitan for "one thousand" and vacas "cows"). Brown Limousin cattle are, in fact, ubiquitous on all but the highest parts of the massif. However, the place-name is more a comparison between the landscape and the cows, because the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
stones staying stuck to another resemble cows.
Another serious explanationsays Celtic melo "haught" and Latin vacua "empty".
Structure and geology
Although commonly referred to as a plateau, the Millevaches Massif is actually more like a shallow dome, deeply dissected by streams and rivers, and slightly tilted, with the south-eastern edge elevated and more exposed. This is the visible remnant of a laccolithLaccolith
A laccolith is a sheet intrusion that has been injected between two layers of sedimentary rock. The pressure of the magma is high enough that the overlying strata are forced upward, giving the laccolith a dome or mushroom-like form with a generally planar base.Laccoliths tend to form at relatively...
, a large lens-shaped mass of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, believed to be the result of an intrusion of igneous material in the late Hercynian or Variscan orogeny
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
. As the surrounding, softer material has weathered away, the laccolith has become increasingly exposed.
Although not strictly a plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, depending upon which direction one approaches the area from, the Plateau de Millevaches forms an important kind of step up (or a step down) in the Massif Central
Massif Central
The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....
. There are a number of definite peaks, the highest being Mont Bessou (976m.), at the southern edge of the massif, near Meymac.
Character and features
The massif is generally densely wooded, with large areas of both coniferous forest and mixed woodland. Among the broadleaf trees, birchBirch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
and beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
predominate, and many roads are lined with beeches. The highest part of the massif, bounded roughly by the villages of Rempnat
Rempnat
Rempnat is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.-References:*...
, Peyrelevade
Peyrelevade
Peyrelevade is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Population:...
, Millevaches
Millevaches
Millevaches is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Population:...
and Saint-Merd-les-Oussines
Saint-Merd-les-Oussines
Saint-Merd-les-Oussines is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Population:-References:*...
, is the most densely wooded, with little agriculture or even stock-rearing intruding among the forests. Elsewhere, there is a patchwork of woods and meadows, with herds of Limousin cattle dotting the landscape, and a few fields of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
or rye
Rye
Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
.
There is a distinctive type of bog or marsh (tourbières in French) which gives rise to numerous rivers such as the Vienne
Vienne River
The Vienne is one of the most important rivers in south-western France, a significant left tributary of the lower Loire. It supports numerous hydro-electric dams, and it is the main river of the Limousin region and also of the eastern part of the Poitou-Charentes region.Two French départements are...
. Many of these rivers are often filled with wild brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
. The area around the village of Millevaches and the Signale d'Audouze (an outstanding peak) is part of an important watershed. The Vienne, which has its sources here, flows mainly northward, across central France, to feed the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
. The Vézère
Vézère
The Vézère is a 211 km long river in south-western France, right tributary of the Dordogne River. Its source is in the north-western Massif Central...
, which arises next to it, drains south into the Dordogne River
Dordogne River
The Dordogne is a river in south-central and southwest France.-Name:Contrary to appearances, the name of the Dordogne is not a recent word resulting from the names of the Dore and the Dogne...
, sending its water to the Atlantic via the Gironde estuary
Gironde estuary
The Gironde is a navigable estuary , in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just below the centre of Bordeaux...
.
Many of the rivers have been dammed to create large lakes. The largest of all is the Lac de Vassivière
Lac de Vassivière
The lac de Vassivière or Vassivière Lake is one of France's largest lakes, in fact a large reservoir, about 10 square kilometres in area, situated on the Plateau de Millevaches, in the départements of Creuse and Haute-Vienne. It is the largest area of water in the Limousin region of France...
, the result of damming the Maulde River. The nearby Lac de la Vaud-Gelade is fed by the Taurion
Taurion
The Taurion , as it is known in Haute-Vienne, or Thaurion, as it is known in Creuse, is a 107 km long river in western France, tributary of the Vienne river....
River. The Vézère feeds two large lakes at Viam
Viam
Viam is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Population:...
and Treignac
Treignac
Treignac is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.During the Hundred Years' War it was pillaged by Rodrigo de Villandrando.-Population:-References:*...
. All of these provide both drinking water and hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
. They are also home to major leisure attractions, being lined with beaches, sailing schools, marinas, camp sites and picnic areas.
There are very few towns or villages of any size on the Plateau de Millevaches, but the towns of Meymac
Meymac
Meymac is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Geography:The commune lies just south of the Millevaches Plateau and north-west of the Cantal mountains....
, Felletin
Felletin
Felletin is a commune in the Creuse department in the Limousin region in central France.-Geography:An area of lakes and streams, forestry and farming comprising a small town and several villages and hamlets situated by the banks of the Creuse River just south of Aubusson at the junction of the...
, Ussel
Ussel
Ussel is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Ussel, Cantal, in the Cantal département* Ussel, Corrèze, a sous-préfecture in the Corrèze département* Ussel, Lot, in the Lot département...
and Eymoutiers
Eymoutiers
Eymoutiers is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in western France.Inhabitants are known as Pelauds.-History:...
are situated at the edges of the Plateau.