Country Gites in the Cévennes

Cessous

30530 Portes
Tel. : +33(0)4 66 24 92 58
Cel. : +33(0)6 61 59 44 06

Map & directions

Welcome to the Guest Gîtes of Cessous: rural Gîtes in the heart of the Cévennes

At the doorstep of the Cévennes National Park, in a small picturesque valley in the southern Cévennes. The stone house in the background overlooks this dell.

Rediscover tranquillity and serenity.

Situated in the Gard, neighbouring the counties of the Lozère and the Ardèche, the valley of Cessous has been able to retain a preserved environment, authentically Cévenol, in rural sourroundings. A little road winds for 3 kilometres along the stream of Cessous. There the gîtes are, you can’t go any farther: the solitary calm pervades, enveloping you.

A bit of human history

Facing full south at an altitude of 400 meters (1300 feet) a stone Cévenol house with thick walls proudly perched on the hillside for centuries, shelters two spacious gîtes. Its wide view looks down the hill to the ruins of a hamlet, abandoned by earlier peasants. With tenacity over many centuries these Cévenols didn’t hesitate to tame the hillsides with the use of dry-stone terracing in order to cultivate chestnut groves. At the end of the 19th century they left their ancestral way of life to work in the (coal) mines.

Two Gîtes out in the woods

They are both completely independent, each with its own character. The gîte called La clède was formerly where the peasants lived, on two floors (stories), built upon vaulted cellars, with a chestnut-drying shed behind it (this is called a “clède”).The other gîte, called "La magnanerie" is a building where in former times silk worms were raised. Beginning in the 18th century sericulture was developed extensively in the Cévennes.

Gîtes de France
The Gîtes of Cessous have the accredited label "Gîtes de France"

Gîte La clede
This gîte is baptized after the chestnut-drying shed attached to it: the "clède".

Gîte La magnanerie
This gîte is where the silk worms were raised: "la magnanerie".