The best cycling routes around Margon

The castle overlooks Pézènes-les-Mines from the upper part of the village. This castle is private, but its facades, roofs, and enclosure have been protected as historical monuments since 1981. Its history is ancient, but the ensemble we see today is the result of several construction and transformation campaigns. The Romanesque chapel, integrated into the castle, dates back to the 12th century. Its apse was later raised in the 14th century to take on a defensive function. The castle itself underwent significant alterations in the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Two gates were notably built into the enclosure in the 17th century. The defensive elements are still very legible: two gates with arrow slits controlled access to the courtyard and were once protected by a drawbridge. Two towers flank the ensemble, while the enclosure follows the natural irregularities of the terrain. The chapel also retains a rather remarkable detail: its door and some of its bays are decorated with basalt inlays, giving the building a discreet but original polychromy. Pézènes-les-Mines was not always the small village one might imagine today. Pézènes was the capital of a marquisate that grouped the communities of Pézènes, Montesquieu, and Valmascle. The castle was therefore at the heart of a larger seigneurial territory. Little-known information: A plan from 1800 shows that behind the castle stretched a long terrace of about 270 meters, arranged as a garden, promenade, and belvedere overlooking the Peyne valley.

View from Café de l’Union

Built in the 12th century, the Saint-Gervais church accompanies the birth of the fortified village of Caux. From its promontory, it still dominates the medieval circular village, whose alleys are organized in circles around it. An often overlooked detail: the seigneurial castle once stood right next to the church. Destroyed in the 17th century, only a few remains integrated into neighboring houses still exist today.

Be careful not to confuse them! These are not ancient volcanoes, but the remains of a mountain range that has undergone erosion. Indeed, unlike the recent volcanism of Salagou (around 1.5 million and 750,000 years ago), the reliefs stretching before you are the vestiges of an ancient mountain range formed nearly 400 million years ago (Hercynian orogeny). Subsequently, hundreds of millions of years of erosion have shaped the landscape you admire today.

At the turn of the relief, the lake of the Olivettes appears like a breath of fresh air in the landscapes of the Avant-Monts. The reservoir is set in a jewel box of limestone hills, where the lines of Pioch Perdut and Roc de Castel Viel structure the horizon.

Good loop up to this point. Unrideable section here - but alternative route available 😅

A small, unusual summit with a path that passes under the high-voltage line. This structure carries 400,000 volts (maximum voltage). Watch out for your hair standing on end (joke)!

I know, the hike is nice and the setting of Tiberet is pleasant.