Cévennes

This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Cévennes is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:

Cévennes
German: Cevennen Spanish: Cevenas
Range
none The town of Sainte-Enimie and the Gorges du Tarn
The town of Sainte-Enimie and the Gorges du Tarn
Country France
Départements Gard, Lozère, Ardèche, Haute-Loire
Part of Massif Central
Highest point Mont Lozère
 - elevation 1,702 m (5,584 ft)
 - coordinates 44°25′34″N 03°44′21″E / 44.42611, 3.73917
Location in the Massif Central
Location in the Massif Central

The Cévennes are a range of mountains in south-central France, covering parts of the départements of Gard, Lozère, Ardèche, and Haute-Loire.

The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar to Cevenna. The Cévennes are named Cemmenon (Κέμμενων) in Strabo's Geographica.

The average population density is 14/km².

The Cévennes are a part of the Massif Central. They run from southwest (Montagne Noire) to northeast (Monts du Vivarais), with the highest point being the Mont Lozère (1702m). Another notable peak is the Mont Aigoual (1567m). The Loire and Allier flowing towards the Atlantic ocean, the Ardèche and tributary Chassezac, Cèze, the different Gardons to the Rhône, Vidourle, Hérault and Dourbie rivers to the sea source in the Cévennes. The region hosts Cévennes National Park, created in 1970 and the Parc Naturel Régional des Monts d'Ardèche. Two canyons are near the region: the Gorges de la Jonte (the Jonte River gorge) and the Gorges du Tarn (the Tarn River gorge).

The region is known for its large community of Protestants, or Huguenots. During the reign of Louis XIV, much of the Huguenot population fled France, particularly following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, but the community in the Cévennes largely remained in place, protected from attack by the hilly terrain. In 1702, this population, dubbed the Camisards, rose up against the monarchy. The two sides agreed to peace in 1715.

In French, the adjective derived from "Cévennes" is Cévenol (fem. Cévenole), as in d'Indy's Symphonie Cévenole, a composer of Ardèche origin (known in English as his "Symphony on a French Mountain Air"). The mountain range also gives its name to a meteorological effect when cold air from the Atlantic coast meets warm air of southern winds from the Mediterranean and causes heavy autumnal downpours, often leading to floods. These are called épisodes cévenols.

See also

References

External links

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 3 January 2009, at 06:10.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Cévennes".

The URL for this specific entry is:

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.