The Sauveterre Causse extends from Montmirat (1181m above sea level) to the source of the Aveyron river at Sévérac-le-Château, covering an area of 55 000 hectares.
The name Sauveterre comes from the old word Salvaterra, meaning harvested land, and describes the area that was granted to the monks of St-Enimie by the Bishop of Gévaudan in 951AD. Sur l’The undulating land is pock-marked by numerous « sotchs », either man-made or naturally occuring bogs and pools. The sheep graze the meagre grass as they have done for hundreds of years. The rarity of wood and timber, as well as the heavy snow falls of the winter months, has resulted in a local architecture that uses stone vaults to support the roofs. The Causse also boasts over forty ‘avens’, caves and caverns into which waters pour, disappearing in the abyss. The Tarn Gorges provide as much splendour on their cliff tops, where the vultures soar, as in the canyon itself, and the Sauveterre Causse is criss-crossed with the tracks of ancient rivers and water-courses.
What is a Causse? The Causses are vast, limestone plateaux, separated by the gorges of the Tarn, the Jonte, the Dourbie and the Lot.
Sur l’The undulating land is pock-marked by numerous « sotchs », either man-made or naturally occuring bogs and pools. The sheep graze the meagre grass as they have done for hundreds of years. The rarity of wood and timber, as well as the heavy snow falls of the winter months, has resulted in a local architecture that uses stone vaults to support the roofs.
