Mont Mézenc et la croix des prisonniers

Les Estables (sommet nord, limitrophe de Chaudeyrolles et La Rochette ; sommet sud à Borée, Ardèche)

The Mézenc is an extinct two-headed volcano, between the Velay and the Vivarais, from which the Alps can be seen in clear weather. It used to be called Puei-Vuei, the old mountain, before 18th-century naturalists imposed its present name. The cross on the north summit is not old, but it has a history. On 7 October 1945, French prisoners of war returned from the camps in Germany planted it in wood at 1,744 metres. The wind of the burle brought it down in December 1953. A metal cross replaced it in 1954, and it is the one still seen today. The record of the listed site soberly notes that ‘French prisoners installed an iron cross on the north summit’. The massif, with its grazed moorland and its self-sufficient farms, has been protected by decree since 27 August 1997. Every September the summit also serves as a place of political gathering, a sign that a mountain can change meaning without changing its cross.

DREAL Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes — site classé du massif du Mézenc ↗

Getting there: From the Croix de Peccata (car park, between Les Estables and Borée), a waymarked path to the north summit in about an hour, easy outside snow conditions; also from the Croix de Boutières. Free access; the burle makes winter dangerous.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound