The best road cycling routes around Le Pradal

In the heart of Lamalou-les-Bains, the Saints-Pierre-et-Paul church bears witness to the village's transformation into a major spa resort. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it accompanies the rise of a town that welcomed numerous spa-goers eager to benefit from the renowned waters of the Orb valley. Before its construction, parish life was organized around the old sanctuaries of Saint-Pierre-de-Rhèdes and then Notre-Dame de Villecelle.

The Saint-Martial church is unlike any other in Haut-Languedoc. Built in 1858-1859 to replace the village's old church, which had become too cramped, it occupies the north wing of the former castle of the viscounts of Narbonne, built in the 15th century. Even more surprisingly, this castle housed a black glass workshop until 1848, before being transformed into a place of worship. The bell tower, added in 1877, completes this original ensemble where religious heritage, seigneurial architecture, and industrial history blend. Observing the buildings surrounding the church, several elements of the original castle can still be distinguished. A few steps away is the old Saint-Martial church, now private property. Built on probably Romanesque foundations, it preserves parts dating back to the 15th century. Having become too dilapidated and too small to accommodate a growing population, it was replaced in 1859 by the new Saint-Martial church. Deconsecrated and then sold by the municipality in 1867, it remains a discreet but precious witness to the religious history of Hérépian.

The Saint-Majan church is the former abbey church of a powerful Benedictine monastery founded in the 7th century, whose prosperity was based in particular on the silver-bearing lead mines that gave their name to Villemagne-l'Argentière. During the Hundred Years' War, the building was transformed into a veritable fortress: walled-up windows, a rampart walk, and machicolations allowed the monks to defend their abbey. Despite the looting of the Wars of Religion in 1562, this remarkable Gothic church has survived the centuries and still bears the traces of this turbulent past. A few steps away is the former Saint-Grégoire church, the first place of worship of the abbey. Its elegant Romanesque architecture contrasts with the Gothic style of Saint-Majan. Transformed into an archaeological museum, it presents collections dedicated to the history of the village, from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, as well as to the exploitation of the ancient mines that shaped the wealth of Villemagne-l'Argentière. By visiting these two buildings, one travels through more than a millennium of history in just a few minutes.

The cliffs of Orque (or Olque, depending on local toponyms) form a real rocky front overlooking the Haut-Languedoc: a limestone wall about 200 meters high, leaning against a plateau perched around 800 meters, north of the Caroux and Espinouse massifs.

The Col de la Croix de Mounis is one of those passes where you don't just cross a slope, but a true border between two valleys. Perched at an altitude of about 800 meters, in the heart of Haut-Languedoc, it connects the Mare valley to that of the Dourdou. For a long time, this pass was a strategic crossing point between Lacaune and Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare. Before modern roads, it was already part of a local circulation network, used by muleteers and stagecoaches, where villages, markets, and valleys were connected via routes dictated by the terrain. The current road still retains something of this logic: it doesn't cut through the mountain, it goes around it and "negotiates" it.

From the D8E13 bridge, the viewpoint offers a beautiful postcard of Avène and the Orb.

This wide turn reveals a superb panorama of the mountain. In the foreground, the D14 winds up the slope with beautifully drawn switchbacks. Further on, several characteristic reliefs of the Haut-Languedoc stand out, succeeding each other to the horizon. One of the most beautiful panoramas of the ascent!

Magnificent viewpoint over the reliefs of the Haut-Languedoc. From this bend in the D180, the landscape suddenly opens up to the east, offering a striking view of the valleys and ridges of the Espinouse. An unmissable photo stop on the way to the pass.