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The Planèze has been occupied by Man since Neolithic times,
as can be seen from the Nouvialle dolmen, now unfortunately in ruins.
Popular
architecture is represented by numerous mountain huts, bread-ovens, crosses,
chapels and farm buildings.
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Over
1200 m above sea level you will come across low stone buildings
with stone shingle roofs. Just a few decades ago Cantal
cheese was still made in them, and they served as refuges
for the cowherds tending the cows grazing the upper pastures
during the five months of summer. Most of these huts are
now abandoned, but they still act as markers for hikers. |
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Almost
all the villages used to have a bread-oven, a long, low
building with a stone shingle roof and a chimney at one
end. Inside, as well as the oven itself there would be
a room where people using the oven would wait for their
bread.
The bread-ovens in the Valuéjols commune have recently
been restored, and visitors are welcome to look inside
and also join in the Fêtes du Pain which are held
in several villages during the summer.
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photo Léon Combes |
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There
are numerous crosses, many of them very old. They serve
as signposts, way-markers and parish boundary markers,
and were often erected for pilgrims or as a focus for
devotion.
You will encounter these Planèze basalt crosses
on your walks and hikes in the region.
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There
are three churches in the commune, all of them well worthy of a visit.
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The
church of Saint-Saturnin, in the old town, has a vaulted
ceiling painted in the XIXth century by the Italian Santorio
which has just been redone, a polychrome wooden Byzantine
statue of Christ dating from the XIIth century, as well
as a XVth century limestone pulpit.
Saint-Maurice village church, in XIth century Romanesque
style, with its tower which commands a view of the Upper
Planèze, the Bois des Fraux woodlands and the Monts
du Cantal.
Lescure church, a pilgrims' church built in the XIXth
century.
(Link with "The
Commune" )
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photo Léon Combes |
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The Narse de Nouvialle: an area of drained marshland
that covers 250 hectares and is home to numerous animals
and plants (among them moorhens and water avens), with a
sub-soil that is rich in diatomaceous silicious stone used
in industry. It is a protected area that is classified as
a site of special scientific interest on account of its
flora and fauna. |
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The
Bois des Fraux: one of the rare woodland areas in the Planèze.
Here one can find Scots pine, fir, common spruce, larch,
and in the undergrowth are numerous wild plants such as
foxgloves, bilberries and raspberries… |
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photo Léon Combes |
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The moors: at above 1200 metres can be found moorland
that serves as summer pasture for cattle and which is home
to rare flowers such as spring anemone and spring and yellow
gentian… |
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