The small village of Celles on the banks of the Salagou, between past, present and future

Des visiteurs attentifs aux explications de Murielle et Vincent, co-animateurs de la balade. Correspondant

Le Pays d’art et d’histoire du Lodévois et Larzac a fait le lien entre les trois périodes.

As part of Heritage Sundays, an outing, organized by the Pays d’art et d’history of Lodévois and Larzac, welcomed around thirty visitors who followed the guided tour to Celles for more than two hours this Sunday, February 4. Everyone was able to discover the history of the small village emptied of its inhabitants at the end of the 1960s with the impoundment of Lake Salagou, but which ultimately remained dry, as well as its geological setting and the renaissance project. today well advanced in reviving it.

A renaissance now well underway

"There were people from Lodévois and Clermontais but also from Montpellier and Sète", rejoices Prune Gasnault, host of Pays d’Art et d’Histoire. The group left from the car park which overlooks the site for a geological situation, descending towards the village via the old road, part of which is under water. "The opportunity to see the top of a cypress in the middle of the lake, a volcanic chimney in the distance while listening to the explanations of the tour guide Murielle Rudeau, who will lead sessions visits around Salagou next summer". Before meeting up with the 1st deputy, architect and new resident Vincent Courteaux to tackle the renaissance project started in 2013, the year the owner Department returned the land to the municipality which launched a long process of reflection. Alongside major work carried out on water and sanitation, in particular with the Lodévois and Larzac community of communes and the intercommunal water union of the time.

"Vincent addressed this aspect, with the construction of the wastewater treatment plant prior to the project. Thanks to user loans for interested people, a legal arrangement chosen by elected officials to make the village lively and avoid turning it into a tourist museum, adds Prune Gasnault. The visit allowed us to discuss the ruins and vestiges, the restorations and the constructions to come. "A baker has already set up her bakery and makes bread which she sells to the producers' boutique À Travers Champs de Lodève".

Municipal thinking resulted in all buildings overlooking the lake remaining communal. An associative tavern will be managed by all the residents and a company house will also be created with a multipurpose room on the ground floor and offices upstairs.

Ultimately, around thirty housing units will be rehabilitated, increasing the population from 60 to 75 people, identical to that of the village in the 1960s before the lake was impounded.

Developments have also been undertaken, such as a new car park installed on the other side of the road leading to Celles, supported by the Department of Hérault with the wish for the municipality that it remains free.

Two works on Celles are available at the Lodève Museum shop: "Celles and Salagou, from the stream to the lake", written by members of the Mas des Terres rouge in the collection les notebooks of Lodévois and Larzac published by the community of communes Lodévois and Larzac; "Celles, a story in suspense towards an ideal of life", self-published by the commune of Celles of which the community of communes has just withdrawn updated copies. I subscribe to read more