Photos

October 29th, 2012
Saint-Maurice-Navacelles 340277 34520
Hérault Languedoc-Roussillon
43.846 3.518 580 m

The Baume Auriol, Saint-Maurice-Navacelles

One view.
Another view. The Baume Auriol pond or "lavogne".

The former farmhouse Baume Auriol on limestone plateau, known as Balma Auriol in the 13th century, whose current buildings date from the 18th 19th centuries. Nearby, you can see the lavogne of Baume Auriol 25 meters in diameter. The farm now houses a tourist office and an inn.

Situated on the LARZAC CAUSSE, it is also a belvedere that overlooks the CIRQUE DE NAVACELLES and the VIS CANYON.

_ The CAUSSE of LARZAC is vastest and southernmost of "GRANDS CAUSSES", large causses. Its 1000 km ² of plateau rise from 600 to 900 meters. It is limited to the North-East by Dourbie river which separates it from "Causse Noir", in the North-West the Tarn river separates it from the plateau of Lévézou, in the west it stops with the depression of Roquefort. Its surface is strewn with famous sites with the military orders, Knights of the Order of the Temple and Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.

_ The GRANDS CAUSSES, in the south of the Massif Central, are delimited in north by the plateau of "Aubrac", in the east by the Cévennes, the south by the plain of the "lodévois", in the west by the plateau of "Lévézou". These are plateaus limestones whose altitude varies from 700 to 1250 meters of altitude, and of surface going up to 1000 km². The "Grands Causses" are formed by important "Causses of Larzac" (1000 km²), of "Sauveterre" (550 km²), "Méjean" (330 km²), and "Noir" (200 km²), but also of the causses "Comtal", "Rouge" and of "Sévérac", and many small peripheral causses like causses of "Mende", "Blandas", "Changefèges", "Bégon", etc… No waterway circulates on the surface of the plates, because the rainwater infiltrates in the karstic, generating networks of many swallow-holes and caves, to re-appear in the valleys. Geology of causses and the cévennes.

_ The VIS has its source in the mountains of the Aigoual, near Saint-Guiral Mount, under the pass of the "Homme Mort", in the municipality of Arrigas, in the Gard department. She disappears into the ground near the Larcy mill after crossing Alzon, while its flow reached 50 l/s. About 15 km later, she resurfaced in a resurgence in Vissec at "moulin de Lafoux" with a flow from 1200 to 2500 l/s. Its tributaries are mostly underground. The Vis constantly eroding the basement, causing landslides underground capable of interrupting its course of hours or days, as in 1779, 1890, 1927 and 1961. His exploration is difficult and dangerous in water at 11° and a very strong current. The Vis has a course in surface in impressive gorges up to 300 m deep dug in the limestone plateau, which the Causse du Larzac, crossing the imposing site of the Cirque de Navacelles. After crossing a watershed of 481 km², and a course of 57.8 km, it flows into the river Hérault in Ganges. The Vis description.

SAINT-MAURICE-NAVACELLES is a french commune, located in the department of the Herault of the Languedoc-Roussillon area, populated of 157 inhabitants in 2009, divided out of 68.6 km², that is to say 2.3 hab./km².

The municipality of Saint-Maurice-Navacelles, results from the fusion of the 3 communes Saint-Maurice, Navacelles et Madières.

My images of Saint-Maurice-Navacelles.
My images of Causse du larzac.
My images of the Vis Valley.

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.