Lac du salagou

IT IS A SPECIAL PLACE WHERE THE TIME STANDS STILL

Amidst a vast stretch of water, among arid hills formed from red rock, lake Salagou offers the visitor an exceptional palette of colours thanks to a combination of several geological phenomena: the red brick colour of the 'ruffes' (clay-like sediments rich in iron oxide) contrasts with the black of the basalt (of volcanic origin) and blends harmoniously with the blue hues of the sky and water. This artificial lake was created at the end of the 1960s to allow the irrigation of the surrounding crops.  It also regulates the rise in water level on the Lergue and Hérault rivers...

Love stones:

You will certainly encounter, on the slopes of ruffes, these small stones engraved with hearts and the initials of loved ones.
Legend has it that these little white Salagou stones murmur the tender and forbidden love of Jeanne, the daughter of a Baron and Bauzille, the son of a woodcutter.
This story from the XIIth century is the reason for these stones which are still still carved out to this day.

The Salagou lake is a unique spectacle with an area of ​​750 hectares.

Its geology is exceptional spanning as it does from the end of the Paleozoic era to the beginning of the Quaternary era.

Le Salagou offers a wide range of activities.

 

 

THE SALAGOU IN NUMBERS :

People

  • Traces of the Paleolithic (towards Octon and Mérifons): more than 10000
  • The dolmens: 4000
  • The Celts: 3000
  • The Gallo-Romans:2000
  • The Visigoths: 1500
  • Saint-Fulcran: 1000

THE ROCKS (IN MILLIONS OF YEARS)

  • Ruffe and imprints (end of the Paleozoic era, Permien): 250
  • The sandstone around Roubignac (Mesozoic era; Trias): 200
  • The Mourèze dolomites (Jurassic secondary era): 160
  • Basalt, volcanic (quaternary era, beginning): 2

Le lac

  • Altitude:
  • Length (from Octon to the dam): 6.5 km
  • Area: 750 ha
  • Volume: 125 million m3
  • Depth of the dam: 45m
  • Depth between the peninsula and the Vailhé: 22m
  • Depth in front of Octon: 4m
  • Temperature in summer 28 o

The dam

  • Height: 62m
  • Length: 357m
  • Width at the top 7.42m
  • Volume of basalt: 800000 m3
  • Weight of basalt: 1650000 t
  • Concrete: 50000 m3
  • Start of build : 1964
  • End of build : 1969

Helpful Links :

"The birds of the Salagou": http://www.lesoiseauxdusalagou.fr