Pilat Massif

Mont Pilat or the Pilat massif is a mountainous area in the east of the Massif Central of France.

Name

The origin of the name "Pilat" is uncertain.
The word may have a Latin origin (''Mons Pileatus'').
Another legend says that the body of Pontius Pilate was buried in the massif.

For a long time ''Mont Pilat'' designated the main mountain, with the double peaks or crests (crêts) of Perdrix and Oeillon.
Modern maps generally designate this area as ''Les Crêts''.
However, the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) continues to use the term ''Mont Pilat'' to refer to the television transmitter on the Crêt de l'Oeillon.

The whole mountain range is commonly called ''Mont Pilat''.
The ''Communauté de communes des Monts du Pilat'' coordinates various administrative and developmental functions for the communes in the massif.
The term ''Pilat'' is also used to refer to the area that became the Parc naturel régional du Pilat in 1974.

Topography

The Pilat massif is part of the French Massif Central range. It lies in the extreme east of the range looking over the Rhone valley.
The overall orientation of the massif is from south-west to north-east, creating a variety of climates.
The massif generally rises about above its surroundings.
Perdrix (Partridge mountain) rises to above sea level and Pyfara and Panère are high.
Pilat is separated from the Monts du Lyonnais to the north by the Saint-Étienne basin, the Gier valley.

The Gier rises at La Jasserie on the Perdrix mountain at about .
The river runs along the north side of the massif for before joining the Rhone at Givors.
The Gier receives the Janon from its left at Saint-Chamond.
The Janon from Terrenoire (now part of Saint-Étienne) to Saint-Chamond and then the Gier from Saint-Chamond to Givors create a valley in the coal basin that runs between the Pilat massif and the Riverie chain of the Monts du Lyonnais.

Climate

Pilat has a wide variety of plants, reflecting different climate zones in a relatively small area.
The Rhone valley on the south of the massif has a warm Mediterranean climate.
Fruit trees and vineyards are cultivated on the south-facing slopes.
On the north side there is a cooler continental climate, with conifers, juniper and ferns. There is heavy snow in the winter.
On the crests, the altitude, winds and snow prevent the growth of trees. Vegetation includes heath plants such as heather and bilberry.

History

Flint and pottery found in the municipality of Saint-Genest-Malifaux show that humans were present in pre-historic times.
During the Celtic era the Pilat was shared by two Celtic peoples, the Segusiavi and the Allobroges.
They left many places of worship, arrangements of stones such as those at Château de Belize above Chuyer,
the Rock Altar Roisey and La Garde, the sacred precincts of Saint-Sabin and the peak of the Three Teeth,
and especially the " Menhir du Flat" near Colombier.

In Roman times the water of the river Gier was supplied to Lyon through the aqueduct of the Gier.
The water was collected above Saint-Chamond and routed through tunnels, of which there are remains at Chagnon and Saint-Martin-la-Plaine, and aqueducts such as the one at Chaponost. During the Roman era Pilat formed the border between the provinces of Gallia Narbonensis'' and '' Gallia Lugdunensis''.
There are remains of Roman roads in places such as Pélussin and Saint-Régis-du-Coin.

On 1 November 1944 a U.S. Army Douglas C-47 Skytrain crashed due to bad weather carrying five crew members, army nurse lieutenant Aleda E. Lutz and fifteen wounded of whom some were German prisoners. There were no survivors. It took several hours for help to arrive. The crash occurred in the hollow of La Botte not far from La Jasserie, where a monument was raised in 2002 commemorating the accident.

Administration

The Pilat is mostly located in the Loire department southeast of the city of Saint-Étienne and southwest of the cities of Vienne