The Malavieille castle ruins, Merifons, a photo from Languedoc-Roussillon, South

Photographer's Note

November 5th, 2010
Mérifons 340156 34800
Hérault Languedoc-Roussillon
43.633 3.295 173 m

The Malavieille castle ruins, Mérifons

One view. October 23rd, 2012.
Another view. November 12th, 2012.

On the path of a magnificent small hike, The CASTLE OF MALAVIEILLE of 12th 13th centuries, quoted in 1098, belonged to the bishopric of Lodève from 1223. At 373 m height, the ruins of the castle of Malavieille overlooks the valley of the SALAGOU brook which will create further the SALAGOU lakeand a magnificent rocky landscape characterized by intense erosion and red color: the RUFFES.

_ The hike randonnée of 14 kilometers cross the château de Malavieille, visit the paleontological site of la Lieude with the imprints of the passage of animals of Permian era, by the chapel Saint-Pierre de Mérifons 12th 14th 15th centuries, and by the chapel Saint-Fulcran of the name of a famous bishop of Lodève who would have been born to MÉRIFONS. The hike presents no difficulty except for some ascents.

_ The SALAGOU brook takes its source to 250 m of altitude near the Merquière pass, in the Brenas municipality, in the department of Hérault. After crossing the lac of Salagou, it flows in the river Lergue in the department of Herault after a course of 20.8 km and the crossing of a catchment area of 76 km². Its flow is very irregular. Description of the Salagou river.

_ The RUFFES, called pélites by the geologists are very crisp sedimentary rocks, reddened by the iron oxide, the origin of which goes to the end of the primary era 280 to 225 million years. 1,9 million years ago, hanging 500 000 years the effusions of lava invaded valleys, on ruffes. The erosion dug the not covered ruffes, leaving in height the castings of basalt on the protected ruffes. Creating an inversion of the relief.

_ The SALAGOU lake located 45 kilometers west of Montpelier, result of the construction from 1964 to 1969 of a dam 357 m long 63 m high, in the town of Clermont-l'Hérault, on SALAGOU brook which flows into the LERGUE. Its 125 000 000 m3 of water for irrigation, extend over 750 hectares in the municipalities of Clermont-l'Hérault, Liausson, Octon, and Celles.

_ The LERGUE is a river which rises to 704 meters on the CAUSSE du LARZAC, in the municipality of Les Rives near the hamlet of Les Sièges in the Lauroux municipality in the department of Herault, which she joined the plain after a high vertical drop. After running for 44.9 km and crossing a watershed of 428km², it flows into the river Hérault in Canet. The lergue description.

MÉRIFONS is a french commune, located in the Hérault departement of the Languedoc-Roussillon area, populated of 47 Mérifonois in 2009, distributed out of 6.7 km², that is to say 7 hab./km².

The commune is crossed by the river SALAGOU which retained downstream creates the lac Salagou.

Mes images of Mérifons.
My images of the landscapes of the Salagou lake

Copyright © All rights reserved. The use or the reproduction, on any media, for profit or not profit, of my photographs, including my photographs published in workshop, the notes or the texts, is prohibited without my written authorization. Joel Berthonneau.

pierrefonds, snunney, ikeharel, saxo042, Sonata11, pajaran, Cricri, siolaw, thebest has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pierrefonds (48335) 2013-01-26 5:37

Bonjour Jöel,

Lea arbres cadrent bien les ruines. La prise d evue permet de voir les détails et les couleurs des ruines du château de Malavieille. La bonne luminosité valorise les couleurs de l'image. Bon weekend.

Pierre

Sergiom (39184) 2013-01-26 5:45

Bonjour Joel

J'aime cette contre plongée qui utilise subtilement ce très beau ciel comme arrière plan et qui donne une certaine ampleur aux ruines. 8 siècles et elle tient encore debout, j'aimerais en dire autant de nos infrastructures au Québec qui ont cette allure après 50 ans.

Amicalement

Serge

snunney (67292) 2013-01-26 5:53

Hello Joël,
Even in ruins, this castle still looks quite impressive standing atop of its rocky pinnacle. The lovely sky makes a splendid backdrop for castle and mound. Superb technical realisation.

ikeharel (37280) 2013-01-26 6:57

Bonsoir Joel,
I could be sure this is in Israel... looks very similar to the Monfort castle ruins we have in the Galilie district - maybe same masons built both of those strongholds, same era.
Even the vegetation looks similar.
Nice POV looking at the top, marvelous ancient castle it must had been. Fine daylight managed.
Bon weekend,
Ike

Herquin (6875) 2013-01-26 7:45

Bonjour Joël

Jolie vue sur ce château avec toutefois une réserve , si tu me le permets , concernant le cadrage qui mériterait une vue un peu plus plongeante ce qui éliminerait une partie du ciel .
A tant qu'a faire j'aurais décalé la vue sur la gauche , histoire de placer le donjon sur un des " points d'or " . Point supérieur droit qui plus est .Le Ws est tout à fait approprier pour me satisfaire pleinement .

Excuse-moi pour ma franchise .

Bonne après-midi .

Christian .

GREGG (8243) 2013-01-26 8:02

Hi Joel,
nice castle ruins on the hill
white color contrasts with the blue of the sky
Good POV and sharpness
Have a nice weekend,
Greg

saxo042 (31794) 2013-01-26 9:18

Hi Joël,
A beautiful picture of this interesting ruins. This is obviously something we missed, I see that we were not so far away from here. Something to save for next time... All three pictures of this motive are very good, the comparison is interesting.
Kind regards
Gunnar

Sonata11 (28289) 2013-01-26 9:25

Hi Joel,
striking beautiful composition of nature, ruins and fabulous framing of this interesting place with fantastic managemnet of color, sharpness, clarity, great light, POV and DOF too. Quality and technically fantastic. Like it a lot. My congratulation.
All the best and have a great WE,
Barbara

papagolf21 (76515) 2013-01-26 9:29

Bonsoir, cher Joël,
Il ne serait pas étonnant que des fantômes viennent hanter les ruines du château.
En attendant, et en plein jour, nous pouvons admirer le site et sa position de défense et d'observation.
Image parfaitement cadrée et présentée.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Zucca (4308) 2013-01-26 13:00

Bonsoir Joël,

Le point de vue, en contreplongée, est excellent sur ces pans de murs austères qui coiffent le sommet de la colline ! Toutefois, la part que prend le ciel dans la photo aurait, à mon avis, gagné à être réduite.

Bonne soirée !

Sylvain

carlo62 (12550) 2013-01-26 14:49

Ciao Joel
è rimasto ben poco del castello, ma ha una sua gloriosa storia.
Ottima inquadratura e bella condivisione.
Saluti
Carlo

lousat (57610) 2013-01-26 15:20

Salut Joel,excellente choix de la prise de vue pour creer cette perspective imposante avec les ruins,vraiment super le moment avec la meilleure lumiere pour des couleurs et details impressionants,mes compliments et belle DImanche,Luciano

ifege (9428) 2013-01-26 21:40

Hi Joel - stark but pictureque ruins - well captured.
cheers
Ian

Nicou (97637) 2013-01-26 21:49

Hello Joël

quel château sur son éperon rocher, c'st une merveille avec la végétation quel mie en valeur et point de captage fantastique.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

jjcordier (62280) 2013-01-26 22:42

Joël
Contrairement à Christian, je préfère le cadrage plus serré de ton post principal, d'autant plus que la luminosité me semble meilleure, tout comme la qualité de l'image. Moi aussi, je suis plus mon instinct que les règles...mais ça me joue des tours parfois -)
Amicalement
JJ

pajaran (36190) 2013-01-27 5:58

Dobar dan, popodne.
Dobar tekst o mestu i starom gradu sa datim podacima ...
Lep pogled na rusevine tvrdjave ...
Dobra ostrina snimka, kontrast, lepe boje.
Dobra kompozicija, lepe fotografije u radionici.
Dobar rad, lepo pokazano.
Imajte lep dan za odmor, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Good afternoon, this afternoon.
Good article about the place and the old town with the given data ...
Nice view of the ruins of the fortress ...
Good image sharpness, contrast, beautiful color.
Good composition, beautiful pictures in the workshop.
Good work, well demonstrated.
Have a nice day to rest, all the best.
Paja.

Cricri (86391) 2013-01-27 10:08

Bonjour Joal
Une belle vue de ces ruines sur le rocher couvert de verdure avec un début d'automne qui s'annonce, belle lumière, trois belles présentations pour tout les goûts :-))
Belle soirée
cricri

siolaw (37568) 2013-01-28 7:49

Salut Joël
Ces ruines couronnent magnifiquement la colline et le pan de mur semble prêt à tomber! Une photo aux couleurs naturelles et qui nous fait découvrir un bel endroit (j'avais vu les précédentes!)
Mes amitiés
Laurent

thebest (3370) 2013-01-28 23:45

Hi Joel,

It doesn't look as if there is much left of this Castle - sad isn't it?
I imagine you would have enjoyed the long hike though...
It is nice to come across spots like this & it would have been nice to sit & rest awhile & reflect - possible go back in time a bit.
I am a bit of a romantic '' I have been called '' A Dreamer '' Many times. ha! ha!.
Your photo is very nice.

Kindest regards,
Dawn.

mkamionka (24505) 2013-01-29 13:03

Bonjour Joel,
great setting for the castle, your POV emphasized the amazing location. I like especially the remains of the tower which adds some asymmetric touch. You captured the place in a great subtle light with pleasant natural colors.
Very well done,
M

jemaflor (68867) 2013-02-02 1:00

Salut Joel,
des ruines en point fort sur cet éperon rocheux, c'est très photogénique. Le cadrage et la lumière sont bien équilibrés, le résultat est idéal.

Hellas (6505) 2013-02-14 0:03

Γαλλία και Ελλάδα είναι όμοιες σε αρκετά πράγματα.

Η εικόνα που μοιράστηκες μαζί μας είναι ένα παράδειγμα ως προς αυτό που είπα.
Ο πέτρινος τοίχος άντεξε στον χρόνο και στις αντίξοες καιρικές συνθήκες.
Έτσι σήμερα, μέσω του φακού σου, έχουμε την ευκαιρία να δούμε τα ερείπια αυτού του κάστρου, υπό αρκετά καλή γωνία λήψης και έναν εξίσου ωραίο ουρανό!

Χαιρετισμούς!