… through the forest on Mont Mimat…
Mont Mimat is situated to the
south of the city of Mende. It
overlooks the city and rises to a spot height of 1067 metres. If you prefer your measures in feet and
inches, then that's just a smidgen more than 3,500 feet. It also means that Mont Mimat is just a tad
taller than Carnedd Llewelyn in Wales, the 25th tallest peak in the
UK. Naturally when making such
comparisons one has to remember that Mimat won't get the constant rain that we
do, so you can more or less guarantee better weather at the top.
Mimat is covered with forest, mostly Austrian Black pines. This was something that the municipality undertook quite some time ago. Up on the plateau there is also a cross, dedicated to St Privat. In third century Gaul, the area around the modern city of Mende was invaded by the Alamans led by Chrocus. Chrocus took his troops into the heart of Gaul, looting and killing along the way. He wanted access to the city and finding St Privat fasting in caves on Mont Mimat, Chrocus took him hostage, believing that the people would surrender in order to save their bishop. They didn't and St Privat didn't surrender on their behalf either. He was beaten and mutilated and eventually left for dead. It was some days later before he finally died of his wounds.
He was buried close to where his martyrdom ended and a church was built. The original would have been of wood and it was replaced by two later re-incarnations. In the 14th century the final edifice was commissioned by Pope Urban V (William Grimoard) and was dedicated to St Privat. That cathedral, subject to repairs following the religious wars and later additions and enhancements, stands in the centre of Mende and is the basilica of Notre-Dame-et-St Privat. It's a stunning edifice and the beautiful Aubusson tapestries inside are definitely worth a look.
But there's something else about
Mont Mimat - and the mountain takes its name from the ancient name of the city,
Mimate, not the other way around, as is most often the case - it's used on the
Tour de France. The steepness of the
routes across the mountain mean that it has been used several times. The route on the Lot valley side is referred
to locally as Montée
Jalabert in honour of the French cyclist Laurent Jalabert. He won the Mimat stage of the Tour in 1995
and was ranked as number 1 that year and numerous subsequent years besides.
Mont Mimat has such an interesting history that I thought it would make an interesting location in one of my Jacques Forêt stories. Indeed, considering its dominance over the town, it's kind of hard to ignore it. For Mercœur, I have some scenes that take place on the mountain. And there are a couple more surprises that the mount has to offer too. But I'll save those for another post.
 |
| The Cévennes |
Mimat is covered with forest, mostly Austrian Black pines. This was something that the municipality undertook quite some time ago. Up on the plateau there is also a cross, dedicated to St Privat. In third century Gaul, the area around the modern city of Mende was invaded by the Alamans led by Chrocus. Chrocus took his troops into the heart of Gaul, looting and killing along the way. He wanted access to the city and finding St Privat fasting in caves on Mont Mimat, Chrocus took him hostage, believing that the people would surrender in order to save their bishop. They didn't and St Privat didn't surrender on their behalf either. He was beaten and mutilated and eventually left for dead. It was some days later before he finally died of his wounds.
He was buried close to where his martyrdom ended and a church was built. The original would have been of wood and it was replaced by two later re-incarnations. In the 14th century the final edifice was commissioned by Pope Urban V (William Grimoard) and was dedicated to St Privat. That cathedral, subject to repairs following the religious wars and later additions and enhancements, stands in the centre of Mende and is the basilica of Notre-Dame-et-St Privat. It's a stunning edifice and the beautiful Aubusson tapestries inside are definitely worth a look.
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| Basilica, Mende from lower slope of Mont Mimat |
Mont Mimat has such an interesting history that I thought it would make an interesting location in one of my Jacques Forêt stories. Indeed, considering its dominance over the town, it's kind of hard to ignore it. For Mercœur, I have some scenes that take place on the mountain. And there are a couple more surprises that the mount has to offer too. But I'll save those for another post.
There will be more about Mont Mimat in my post on December 1st.
Thanks for the history lesson, Angela. Anxious to read the new story.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Allan, and the next story will out at the end of March. Not that long to wait, really.
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