Hauts Lieux›The great stories

Towns beneath the water: the legend, then the dams

20 min read

From the collapse of the Granier (1248) to research on the Pavin (2010): texts on Herbauges (1371-1372) and on Ys (before 1505), Sébillot’s survey (1905), dams of Vouglans (1968), Les Salles-sur-Verdon (1973-1974), the Der (1974) and Pierre-Percée (1980s)

A beggar turned away, a hut that takes him in, a town that vanishes beneath a lake: France has told this legend in many places. This route follows its trail, from Herbauges and Ys to the Pavin, Issarlès and Lers, back to the oldest texts. It sets against it the villages truly covered in the 20th century, at Vouglans, Les Salles-sur-Verdon, the Der and Pierre-Percée. Here there is no sin, but decisions, dates and files. The Granier, in 1248, is dealt with separately: a real disaster, which the chroniclers already read as a punishment.