Cévennes

Cévennes
Occitan: Cevenas
The Gorges du Tarn
Highest point
Peak	Mont Lozère
Elevation	1,702 m (5,584 ft)
Coordinates	44°25′34″N 03°44′21″E / 44.42611°N 3.73917°E / 44.42611; 3.73917Coordinates: 44°25′34″N 03°44′21″E / 44.42611°N 3.73917°E / 44.42611; 3.73917
Geography
Location in the Massif Central
Country	France
Départements	Gard, Lozère, Ardèche and Haute-Loire
Parent range	Massif Central

The Cévennes (Occitan: Cevenas) are a range of mountains in south-central France, covering parts of the départements of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère.

The word Cévennes comes from the Gaulish Cebenna, which was Latinized by Julius Caesar to Cevenna. The Cévennes are named Cemmenon (Κέμμενων) in Strabo's Geographica.

In French, the adjective derived from "Cévennes" is Cévenol (fem. Cévenole), as in d'Indy's Symphonie Cévenole, a composer of Ardèche origin (known in English as his Symphony on a French Mountain Air).

The mountain range also gives its name to a meteorological effect when cold air from the Atlantic coast meets warm air of southern winds from the Mediterranean and causes heavy autumnal downpours, often leading to floods. These are called épisodes cévenols.

In the larger sense, the Cevennes include 9 départements : le Tarn, l'Aude, l'Hérault, l'Aveyron, le Gard, la Lozère, l'Ardèche, le Rhône et la Loire. More strictly the Cevennes encompasses the Lozère and the Gard. The Parc national des Cévennes is almost entirely within Lozère.