Saint-Martial: Menhirs, Hiking and Romanesque Heritage

Saint-Martial combines a waymarked hiking route with megalithic remains, a Romanesque church and a regional connection to Oignon Doux des Cévennes. When planning your visit, you can focus on different things: hiking, stone monuments, Romanesque architecture or the landscape of onion cultivation. The specific features of these themes can help you decide what you would like to make the focus of your stay.

Hiking route starting and ending in Saint-Martial

The Balade à Saint Martial en Cévennes hike begins and ends in Saint-Martial. Yellow waymarks and signposts mark the route. This gives you two concrete details for planning: the connection to the village through the start and finish, and route guidance through the waymarks and signs. If hiking is your priority, you can treat this route as a separate activity and then decide whether to include other cultural or landscape themes.

Menhirs: location, form and measurements

The three menhirs described here differ in their characteristics. The Menhir du Devinayre is a reclining granite menhir on the edge of a hiking trail. The Menhir du Col du Bès is also made of granite, but has been re-erected and measures two metres. Peyrea Jacent is a three-metre-long reclining menhir at Col de l’Astric; it is also known as Caisse du Diable.

When comparing the measurements, it is worth distinguishing height from length: the Menhir du Col du Bès is listed as two metres high, while Peyrea Jacent is three metres long. Along with its location at Col de l’Astric and its alternative name, this gives you specific information about the stone. For the Devinayre, by contrast, the focus is on its reclining form, granite material and location on the edge of a hiking trail.

Church, bridge and a panorama of the Cévennes

The Eglise Romane de Saint Martial is a Romanesque church dating from the 12th century. This date gives the cultural landmark a clear historical context. The Pont du Passadou is a different kind of structure: it is a sheep bridge over the Rieutord. The cultural highlights therefore range from Romanesque architecture and menhirs to a bridge with a connection to the river.

The landscape is also part of the views described at the Menhir du Col du Bès. From there, you can see a panorama of the valleys and the chestnut-covered mountains of the Cévennes. This view connects the menhir with a specific landscape; when deciding what interests you, it offers a different focus from the measurements or the construction of the cultural landmarks.

Oignon Doux des Cévennes and how to get there

Saint-Martial is one of 32 municipalities in the Gard within the AOP production area for Oignon Doux des Cévennes. The onions are grown on steep slopes, where the terraces are supported by dry-stone walls. The connection to production is therefore also a connection to the way the growing areas are shaped: slopes, terraces and stone walls go hand in hand. For travellers interested in regional produce as well as cultural landmarks, this is another distinct aspect of the village.

The Le col de Bès route runs from Ganges via the D4, then the D11, and finally the D20 to Saint-Martial. This sequence of roads provides specific guidance for the journey. It differs from the hiking information: there, the starting point and destination, yellow waymarks and signposts are given; here, the focus is on Ganges as the starting point and the sequence of roads.

Discover more destinations: Saint-André-De-Roquepertuis, Sauzet, Cros, Nimes, Rousson, Saint-Victor-La-Coste, Saint-Félix-De-Pallières, Saint-Privat-Des-Vieux.

For the broader travel overview: Gard.