Maison Rouge – Musée des vallées cévenoles (Cévennes Valley)

After an historic overview, the visitor can experience the traditional daily life of the Cévennes locals , the terracing of the land, farming methods like conservation tillage right through to the installation of irrigation systems. It traces the long battle that the population faced to conquer the land and modify the countryside.Next comes the activities surrounding agriculture and animal husbandry…

A place of honour is given to the omnipresent chestnut tree , the so-called “bread tree” which has been an important food source in the Cévennes for more than a thousand years. Silkworm rearing, the mulberry trees on which they feed, and the so-called “golden tree” are genuine pillars of Cévennes civilisation. Naturally, the craftsman and his tools complete the exhibition.

Domestic life is dealt with through the seventeenth and eighteenth dowries around which households were built. Reconstructed interiors provide a showcase for furniture and domestic tools and their various uses.

Religious life and faith are treated by exploring their Protestant nature which greatly contributed to the emergence of a regional identity.