Cévennes National Park (french: Parc national des Cévennes) is a French national park located in

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

, in the mountainous area of

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; oc, Cevenas) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the ''départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geogra ...

. Created in 1970, the park has its administrative seat in

Florac Florac is a former commune of the Lozère department in southern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Florac-Trois-Rivières. History Medieval Raymond of Anduze held the barony of Florac and is recorded as using ...

at Florac Castle. It is located mainly in the departments of

Lozère Lozère (; oc, Losera ) is a landlocked department in the region of Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the east by Ardèche, to the south by Gard, to the west by Aveyron, ...

and

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants ...

, therefore stretching across a record number of departments for a national park. The Aven Armand cave is located in the park. In 2011, the Park was made a part of The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Geography

frameless, Map of the Cévennes National Park, showing in red the central protected zone and, in green, the area encompassed by the park., 400px The park includes several mountains and plateaus, including:

Mont Lozère Mont Lozère ( oc, Mont Losera) is the highest peak in the Cévennes, a subrange of the Massif Central in France. It is above sea level and lies within the Cévennes National Park. Mont Lozère is commonly used for skiing during the winter mon ...

Mont Aigoual Mont Aigoual (; oc, Mont Augal, elevation 1567m / 5141 ft) is the highest point of the Gard '' department'', France. It is part of the Massif Central, and it is located within the Cévennes National Park. Its southern slopes are the sourc ...

Causse Méjean Causse Méjean is a limestone plateau in the Lozère department, in southern France. It is a part of The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site. Communes Causse Méjan is part of 13 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Mont Lozère is the highest peak in the area, reaching 1,699 metres.

History

The Cévennes country is rich of history, with a strong cultural identity, being at the heart of

Camisard Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...

revolt, which followed the revocation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

(the

Edict of Fontainebleau The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

), after which Protestants were actively prosecuted. Numerous testimonies of Camisard war in the Cévennes abund in towns and villages of the Cévennes National Park. A permanent exhibition devoted to the memory of Camisards has been elaborated at the old temple of Le Rouve (commune of

Saint-André-de-Lancize Saint-André-de-Lancize (; oc, Sent Andrieu) is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. History History of the commune is mainly marked by the Camisards revolt, which started on July 22, 1702, in Vieljouves, a hamlet located a ...

).The first Camisards and freedom of conscience
. Temple du Rouve

Points of interest

Arboretum de Cazebonne The Arboretum de Cazebonne (4 hectares) is an arboretum located about 4 km from Alzon, on D 231 towards Villaret, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France. It is located within the Cévennes National Park, managed by the ''Office National des Fo ...

* Aven Armand

External links

Official Site
(English, French) https://web.archive.org/web/20040211160840/http://www.bsi.fr/pnc/ (in French)
Regordane Info - The independent portal for The Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail. The Regordane Way crosses The Cévennes
(in English and French)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cevennes National Park National parks of France Biosphere reserves of France Geography of Ardèche Geography of Aveyron Geography of Gard Geography of Lozère Protected areas established in 1970 Tourist attractions in Occitania (administrative region) Tourist attractions in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tourist attractions in Aveyron Tourist attractions in Gard Tourist attractions in Lozère Tourist attractions in Ardèche

Geography

History

Points of interest

See also

External links

References