Discover the village of Saint-Georges-de-Lévéjac on the Causse de Sauveterre plateau
Saint-Georges de Lévéjac is a village located on the Causse de Sauveterre plateau, very close to the Point Sublime scenic viewpoint. The village’s history goes back to the origins of Christianity in this region. In the 6th century, Saint-Hilaire, bishop of Mende, built an oratory dedicated to Saint-Pierre at the site of the Baumes circus, in the Tarn river Canyon. It was replaced in the 11th century by a church serving the inhabitants of the Causse de Sauveterre plateau highland up to La Piguière’s village. However, it was necessary to establish an oratory on the Causse highland, to meet the needs of the few inhabitants who lived on this arid plateau. Until the 13th century, the Saint-Georges oratory was a simple dependency of the Saint-Pierre church, but the roles will gradually be reversed as the Causses highlands get populated. The church of Saint-Pierre is then attached to that of Saint-Georges in 1700, further destroyed in 1866. The Saint-Georges’ church was particularly prosperous in the Middle Ages, forming a priory attached to the Monastery of Saint-Martin of La Canourgue.
A building at the entrance to the village bears witness to the time when the village housed a sister congregation. The Sacred Heart sisters were the first to enter the premises, the former Boisset inn. In 1899, they joined the congregation of Mende’s Providence. The convent remained in use until 1980, and many girls from the region came to study there. The church’s presbytery has converted since into a rural lodging. During the 19th century, Saint-Georges was the most populated place in Causse de Sauveterre, in particular thanks to the hamlets of Soulatges, which owns its own chapel. Today, the latter is particularly well restored and constitutes a picturesque example of a preserved Caussenard hamlet.