Have you seen the capitelles of Saint-Chinian?

Saint-Chinian Capitelles

The charming village of Saint-Chinian lies in a well-known wine region within Languedoc. But there is so much more than wine to this lovely village! When I visited the very informative tourism office, I found out about many, many interesting walks. As I was with the twins, we decided to go on a little adventure. The teenagers wanted to do the shortest walk (of course), which was the easy 2.4 kilometres ‘Parfums de Garrigue’ hike of 1.5 hours. Peanuts, you might say, but enough to discover eight capitelles and enjoy a fantastic view.

Picture-postcard panorama

It was one of those gorgeous summer days with deep blue skies and very clear views. The tourism office gave me an informative leaflet with the Parfums de Garrigue walk. The starting point is the ‘Moulin du Rocher’ on the D20, only a few minutes drive upwards from Saint-Chinian. The kids and I followed the yellow signs, beginning with the path that lies beneath the mill. From here, there is only one not-too-bad climb up to the Guitardes Plateau. Standing on the cliffs, we immediately got a picture-postcard panorama of Saint-Chinian and its surroundings. We could even see Mont Caroux, or the ‘Reclining Woman’ as it is called locally. And the typical scent of the garrigue- a type of low scrubland- followed us the whole way. Each of the kids took turns holding the leaflet to show us the way, and soon enough, we encountered our first capitelle.

Parfums de Garrigue

Igloo-shaped hut

A capitelle is a small, igloo-shaped hut made of dry stones without using mortar. Farmers and wine growers used them to seek shelter from the rain or sun or to store their tools. Today, the capitelles are a distinctive landmark in the Languedoc landscape. Continuing on our way, we reached the village of restored capitelles, including a lookout with a breathtaking view. We went inside a few of them so we could admire their ingenious construction from the inside. Each capitelle has a different shape and its own name. Some carry the name of the family that owned the capitelle, like ‘La Capitelle Seguin’, while others use the capitelle’s function, like ‘Lo Claus’ (from the French ‘l’enclos’, as in a grazing enclosure for sheep). Nobody knows exactly how long these capitelles have been around, but apparently, history books mention them as early as the 17th century.

Saint-Chinian Capitelles

Restoration

Looking for all of the capitelles was a fun game. However, although the walk is short, the signage could be clearer. The first part is easy up to the signpost with the Village des Capitelles at 150 metres. But after having visited the ‘village’, we were a bit lost. If you want to do this short hike, don’t follow the yellow sign that directs you through a stone wall at the end of the village. Instead, follow the wall until you reach a gravelled road. To find the last capitelle, we took a path on our left, which brought us to the ‘Capitelle de l’Oliu’ (olive tree). Apparently, it was set up as a ‘learners capitelle’, which volunteers used to perfect their building skills during the restoration project. From here, you can return to the bigger road or take the same path through the garrigue to get back to the mill.

Saint-Chinian Capitelles
TO DO - Nature
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