Читать книгу Tour of the Queyras. The GR58 and GR541 in the French Alps онлайн

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The Norman church of St Pierre et St Paul, Abriès (Stage 7)

There are several cul-de-sac roads in the Queyras that allow visitors to admire the scenery. The road up the Cervières valley to Les Fonts is one example. Others include the road to the Belvédère du Viso in the Upper Guil valley and the road along the Mélezet valley from Ceillac to La Riaille.

The Queyras, like most other regions of the Alps, has experienced depopulation over the last 150 years, caused by the hardships of rural mountain life, lack of local employment and the effects of two world wars. Being so close to Italy, the Queyras suffered considerably in the last war, and was the scene of much mountain warfare (witness the destruction of La Monta and Ristolas in the upper Guil valley). The population of the Queyras stood at around 8000 in the mid-19th century, but today the resident population is much lower than this. For example, Molines-en-Queyras had over 1000 inhabitants in 1838, but this had declined to 290 by the mid-1970s. However, skiing and tourism have now helped to stabilise the situation.