DiscoverSaint-Georges-de-Lévéjac

Saint-Georges de Lévéjac

Saint-Georges de Lévéjac is a village located on the Causse de Sauveterre, close to the Point Sublime panorama.

Saint-Georges de Lévéjac

A typical old village

The history of this beautiful, typically Caussenardvillage dates back to the origins of Christianity in this region. In the 6th century, Saint-Hilaire, bishop of Mende, built an oratory dedicated to Saint-Pierre on the site of Les Baumes, in the Gorges du Tarn. This was replaced in the 11th century by a church serving the inhabitants of the Gorges and Causse de Sauveterre as far as La Piguière. However, an oratory had to be built on the Causse, to meet the needs of the few inhabitants living on this arid plateau. Until the 13th century, theoratory of Saint-Georges was simply a dependency of the church of Saint-Pierre, but roles were gradually reversed as the Causses became more populated. The church of Saint-Pierre was attached to that of Saint-Georges in 1700, then destroyed in 1866. Thechurchof Saint-Georges was particularly prosperous in the Middle Ages, forming a priory attached to the Saint-Martin de La Canourgue monastery.

The religious past

Of Saint-Georges de Lévéjac

A building at the entrance to the village bears witness to the time when the village was home to a congregation of nuns. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart were the first to frequent the building, formerly the Boisset inn. In 1899, they joined forces with the Providence congregation in Mende. The convent remained in use until 1980, and many girls from the region came here to study. The church’s presbytery was converted into a rural gîte. During the 19th century, Saint-Georges was the most densely populated part of Sauveterre, thanks in particular to the hamlet of Soulages (3 km away), which had its own chapel. Today, the latter has been particularly well restored and is a picturesque example of a Causse hamlet that has been preserved in the same way as Saint-Georges.