Cévennes National Park

Cévennes National Park (French: Parc national des Cévennes) is a French national park located in Southern France, in the mountainous area of Cévennes.

Cévennes National Park
Parc national des Cévennes
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Causse Méjean
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Location	Lozère, Gard, Ardèche and Aveyron, France
Nearest city	Florac
Coordinates	44°11′38″N 3°34′53″E
Area	937 km2 (362 sq mi)
Established	2 September 1970
Governing body	Parcs nationaux de France
www.cevennes-parcnational.fr

The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Causse Méjean in Massif Central, Cévennes National Park, France
Criteria	Cultural: iii, v
Reference	1153
Inscription	2011 (35th Session)
Area	302,319 ha
Buffer zone	312,425 ha

Created in 1970, the park has its administrative seat in Florac at Florac Castle. It is located mainly in the departments of Lozère and Gard; it also covers some parts of Ardèche and Aveyron, 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 World Heritage Site.^[1]

Geography

The park includes several mountains and plateaus, including: Mont Lozère, Mont Aigoual, Causse Méjean, France. Mont Lozère is the highest peak in the area, reaching 1,699 metres.

History

The Cévennes country is rich in history, with a strong cultural identity, being at the heart of Camisard revolt, which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (the Edict of Fontainebleau), after which Protestants were actively persecuted.^[2] 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).^[3]

The temple of Rouve Bas: today desacralized, it is a memorial devoted to the Camisard war in Bougès mountains (Cévennes)

Points of interest

• Arboretum de Cazebonne
• Aven Armand

See also

• List of national parks of France
• Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879) by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Flora of the Massif central

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

1. "The Causses and the Cévennes, Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape".
2. Antoine Court de Gébelin (2009), Histoire des troubles des Cévennes ou de la guerre des camisards sous le règne de Louis le Grand, reprint of the original text published in 1760. Editions Lacour-Ollé, Nîmes (in French)
3. The first Camisards and freedom of conscience Archived 2013-07-16 at the Wayback Machine.