range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

départements A department (, ) is an administrative or political division in several countries. Departments are the first-level divisions of 11 countries, nine in the Americas and two in Africa. An additional 10 countries use departments as second-level div ...

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Drôme in the

French Prealps The French Prealps (french: Préalpes) are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps. They roughly stretch from Lake Geneva southwest to the rivers Isère and Drôme; east to a line ru ...

. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac and

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coa ...

s at the massif's eastern limit face the city of Grenoble.

Background

Over time, various features of the complex geography have been recognised including, the Quatre Montagnes (four mountains), the Coulmes (gorges), the Vercors Drômois (Drome Vercors), the Hauts-Plateaux (high plateaus) and, in the foothills, Royans, Gervanne, Diois, and Trièves. The massif is sometimes called the "fortress." The movement of people tends to be between the massif and the surrounding plains rather than between the various parts of the massif itself. Until the mid twentieth century, the name ''Vercors'' was used to describe only the township of

La Chapelle-en-Vercors La Chapelle-en-Vercors is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régio ...

(with Royans), and the northern area around

Lans-en-Vercors Lans-en-Vercors is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Lans-en-Vercors is twinned with: * Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, since 1990 See also *Communes of the Isère department Th ...

,

Villard-de-Lans Villard-de-Lans (; oc, Lo Vilar de Lanç) is a commune in the Isère department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. The town is also situated in the Vercors Massif. It was the administrative centre of the eponymous c ...

, Autrans, and Méaudre (with Grenoble) and was known as the ''Four Mountains'' area. In June and July 1944, the massif became important in World War II with the establishment of the

Free Republic of Vercors The Battle of Vercors in July and August 1944 was between a rural group of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) maquis''">Maquis_(World_War_II).html" ;"title="'Maquis (World War II)">maquis''and the armed forces of Nazi Germany which had occup ...

, led by the

Maquis du Vercors The Battle of Vercors in July and August 1944 was between a rural group of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) maquis''] and the armed forces of Nazi Germany which had occupied France since 1940 in the Second World War. The maquis used the pro ...

, a base for the French Resistance against German occupation. The Vercors includes the largest alpine karst area in the Northern French pre-alps, and contains a number of large and deep cave systems. These include

Gouffre Berger The Gouffre Berger is a French cave discovered on 24 May 1953 by Joseph Berger, Bouvet, Ruiz de Arcaute and Marc Jouffrey. From 1953 to 1963, it was regarded as the deepest cave in the world at , relinquishing this title to the previous contender, ...

, which is over deep, and the Réseau de Coufin-Chevaline (grotte de Choranche), a show cave in the Bourne Gorge which has almost of mapped passages. The Vercors has several resorts for

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

and for down-hill skiing. Villard-de-Lans is the biggest down-hill ski resort. This sporting area is environmentally protected, and although the natural environment has been drastically altered throughout history for the purposes of agriculture and forestry, plans for

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests a ...

will make it one of the major forests of

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the Europea ...

and a reserve for species such as the

southern tulip Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

and

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

, two symbols of the park, as well as the re-introduced

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It may also be known as the Griffon vulture, though it may be used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confused with Rü ...

and the

alpine ibex The Alpine ibex (''Capra ibex''), also known as the steinbock, bouquetin, or simply ibex, is a species of wild goat that lives in the mountains of the European Alps. It is a sexually dimorphic species: males are larger and carry longer, curved ...

. The differences in climate and altitude across the Vercors are reflected in the high level of diversity in the fauna and flora.

Etymology

The name ''Massif du Vercors'' is derived from the name of a local tribe who lived in the area at the time of the

Roman conquest of Gaul The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their home ...

, who were known as the

Vertamocorii The Vertamocorii (Gaulish: *''Wertamocorī'') were a Celtic people that lived in Cisalpine Gaul around Novara, in Eastern Piedmont ( Italy). The Vertamocorii are reported by Pliny in the third book of Naturalis Historia, where they are said to b ...

(also spelled Vertamocori, Vertacomicorii, or Vertacomocorii), meaning ''excellent troops'' or ''troops of the summit''. Modern inhabitants are referred to as ''Vertacomiriens''. Prior to the 1900s, the name Vercors referred to the upper valleys of the Vernaison near the township of

La Chapelle-en-Vercors La Chapelle-en-Vercors is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régio ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century, Henri Ferrand explored the massif, taking numerous photographs, publishing books, and describing the geology of the mountains. Ferrand was the first to use the term ''Vercors'' in its contemporary sense. The geographers

Raoul Blanchard Raoul Blanchard (4 September 1877 – 24 March 1965) was a French geographer. He taught at the University of Grenoble from 1906 and devoted most of his research to Alpine and Canadian geography. Early life The son of an inspector of the Depart ...

and Jules Blache, popularised the term in the late 1920s and early 1930s. By the 1950s, the term was ubiquitous.

Geography

Location

The Vercors Massif lies in the Prealps, in the south-east France, straddling the departments of Drôme and Isère, both of which are part of the Rhône-Alpes region, about south-east of Lyon. The massif covers with a north-south length of and an east-west width of . The massif is surrounded by the

Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains (french: massif de la Chartreuse ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble in the south to the Lac du Bourget in the north. They are part of the French Prealps, which continue ...

to the north, the Matheysine area of the Dauphiné Alps to the east, and the Diois Massif to the south. In the far south-east, the massif joins with the col de Menée. The massif is drained in the north-east and the north-west by the

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Drac, and in the south by the Drôme. The western side overlooks the Rhône Valley.

Topography

Geomorphology

The Vercors Massif is known as ''the fortress'' or as ''the French dolomites'' because of its geomorphology. The massif is likened to a plateau: the fall from the massif to its inner valleys is a few hundred metres, while the fall to the surrounding areas is between and . The crest of the eastern edge has several summits over . The interior varies between and . The massif also has wide valleys including the valley of

Lans-en-Vercors Lans-en-Vercors is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Lans-en-Vercors is twinned with: * Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, since 1990 See also *Communes of the Isère department Th ...

, the regions around Autrans, and

La Chapelle-en-Vercors La Chapelle-en-Vercors is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régio ...

, and plateaus including forêt des Coulmes, forêt de Lente, and the high plateau. There are a number of deeply incised gorges, including the Bourne and Furon Gorges. These have imposing cliffs often exceeding such as the Combe Laval and the Cirque d'Archiane.

Mont Aiguille Mont Aiguille () is a mountain in the Vercors Massif of the French Prealps, located south of Grenoble, in the commune of Chichilianne, and the département of Isère. The mountain, known as one of the Seven Wonders of Dauphiné, is a relat ...

stands apart from the rest of the massif as the result of erosion. Other parts are isolated from the rest of the massif due to its relief. For example, to reach Gresse-en-Vercors in the south, one must travel via the col de Rousset or journey via

Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte is a commune in the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,083. Demographics 1968 Winter Olympics The commune hosted the ski jumping indivi ...

in the north. The villages at the far northern end were isolated by a landslide near the Mortier tunnel. Another example is the Peuil plateau in the east. During the Ice Age, the

Grésivaudan The Grésivaudan (sometimes Graisivaudan) is a valley of the French Alps, situated mostly in the Isère. Etymologically, ''Graisivaudan'' comes from roots meaning "Grenoble" (''Gratianopolis'') and "valley".''Robert des noms propres'' It compris ...

glacier reached the Peuil plateau leaving a marsh.

Sub-divisions

The central part of the Vercors Massif is divided into several regions.Les régions
Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Coulmes, in the north-west, are heavily covered in forest. Folds of Urgonian limestone are rounded, making the area appear mountainous. The four mountains area has been developed for tourism and skiing but is also known for its traditional activities such as the breeding of dairy cows and cheese making. The main villages, Autrans, Méaudre,

Lans-en-Vercors Lans-en-Vercors is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Lans-en-Vercors is twinned with: * Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, since 1990 See also *Communes of the Isère department Th ...

, and

Villard-de-Lans Villard-de-Lans (; oc, Lo Vilar de Lanç) is a commune in the Isère department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. The town is also situated in the Vercors Massif. It was the administrative centre of the eponymous c ...

, are spread over two plateaus covered by wooded hills. The Drômois Vercors is an area made up of a number of smaller plateaus. In the north of the Drômois Vercors there are several gorges which are traversed by roads cut into the cliffs. Grassy areas are used as pastures in the summer months, and the biannual migration ( transhumance) of animals is a period of celebration for the people of

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

. The ''Haut-Plateaux'' (high plateaus) are the highest wilderness areas of the massif. The area is managed and the pastures are used for grazing in the summer. At the fringes of the massif, the Vercors regional park has four geographical areas. The Royans, the north-west foothills are the location of walnuts growing. Three valleys descend to the edge of the Royans: the Gorges de la Bourne, the cirque of the Combe Laval, and the

Échevis Échevis is a commune in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ...

valley, including the Grands and the Petits Goulets. The Gervanne, in the south-west, is a rugged area of hills at the foot of the plateau, with picturesque villages. It looks towards Crest. The Diois is a part of the Drôme valley around Die. This region has a Mediterranean character, with vineyards and fields of lavender. It acts as a buffer between Gervanne and the interior of the massif. The Trièves, in the east, is a low hilly plateau, which lies between the highest summits of the Vercors and the gorge carved out by the Drac. Panorama Vercors

Principal summits

From north to south: * Le

Moucherotte Le Moucherotte (1901 metres) is the easternmost peak of the Vercors Massif, and also the northern culmination of the long ridge that runs along the eastern edge of the Vercors high plateau, and overlooks the city of Grenoble. The mountain is di ...

, m, the summit which dominates Grenoble, most northerly of the massif * Le Pic Saint-Michel, m * Roc Cornafion, m * Les Arêtes du Gerbier, m * La Grande Moucherolle, m * La Petite Moucherolle, m * La Tête des Chaudières, m * Les Rochers de la Balme, m * Le Sommet de Malaval, m * Le

Grand Veymont Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

, m, highest point of the massif * Le

Mont Aiguille Mont Aiguille () is a mountain in the Vercors Massif of the French Prealps, located south of Grenoble, in the commune of Chichilianne, and the département of Isère. The mountain, known as one of the Seven Wonders of Dauphiné, is a relat ...

, m, with its characteristic silhouette, its first ascent in 1492 was the birth of

alpinism Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

* Le Dôme ou Pié Ferré, m, to the east of

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

, in the Glandasse uplands.

Principal road cols

By descending altitude: * Col du Mont Noir, m, between Malleval-en-Vercors and Rencurel * Col de l'Allimas, m, between Gresse-en-Vercors and

Saint-Michel-les-Portes Saint-Michel-les-Portes () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Isère department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel r ...

* Col de la Chau, m, between Vassieux-en-Vercors and Bouvante * Col de la Bataille, m, between Léoncel and Bouvante * Col de Rousset, m (tunnel altitude), between

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

and

Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors (Vivaro-Alpine: ''Sant Anhan de Vercòrs'') is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Region ...

* Col de Saint-Alexis, m, between Vassieux-en-Vercors and Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors * Col de la Croix-Perrin, m, between

Lans-en-Vercors Lans-en-Vercors is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Lans-en-Vercors is twinned with: * Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada, since 1990 See also *Communes of the Isère department Th ...

and Autrans - Méaudre * Col de Carri, m, between

La Chapelle-en-Vercors La Chapelle-en-Vercors is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régio ...

and Bouvante * Col de la Portette, m, in Bouvante * Col de l'Arzelier, m, between Château-Bernard and Le Gua * Col de Tourniol, m, between Léoncel and Barbières * Col de Proncel, m, between Vassieux-en-Vercors and La Chapelle-en-Vercors * Col des Limouches, m, between Léoncel and Peyrus * Col de Romeyère, m, between Rencurel and Saint-Gervais * Col de la Machine, m, between Saint-Jean-en-Royans and Bouvante. The Tunnel du Mortier links Montaud with Autrans, at an altitude of . It was closed on 20 April 1992 after a landslide of 20,000 m³ of rock which involved part of the slope to the north of the route. The instability of the slopes have proved an impediment for the realisation of further work below the site, particularly work on the gorges d'Engins to Sassenage road, the D531.

Principal caves

The commune in which the cave is situated is given in italics. * Réseau du Gouffre Berger, ''d'Engins en Isère'', long, deep. *
, ''Autrans-Méaudre en Vercors,'' long, deep. *
, ''Villard-de-Lans,'' long, deep. *
, ''Choranche,'' long, deep. *
, ''Choranche,'' long, deep. *
, ''Corrençon-en-Vercors,'' long, deep. *
, ''Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors'', long, deep. * Réseau des Chuats, ''Bouvante'', long. The Grotte de Bournillon, located in the commune of Châtelus, has the highest cave opening in Europe (418 meters).

Climate

The climate of the Vercors due to its elevation is much more rigorous than the lowlands surrounding the massif. The village of

La-Chapelle-en-Vercors La Chapelle-en-Vercors is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Drôme department *Parc naturel régional du Vercors The Vercors Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régi ...

, approximately in the center of the massif, has a Dfb climate under the Köppen Classification system. Winters are cold; summers are warm; and precipitation, often snow in the winter, is abundant in all seasons.

Geology

The constituent rocks of the Vercors were formed by sedimentation about 165 million years ago, in the middle Jurassic period, at the bottom of the

Piemont-Liguria Ocean The Piemont-Liguria basin or the Piemont-Liguria Ocean (sometimes only one of the two names is used, for example: Piemonte Ocean) was a former piece of oceanic crust that is seen as part of the Tethys Ocean. Together with some other oceanic basi ...

. The deposition of animal material formed limestone, with detritus rocks, formed primarily from the erosion of

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

from the Variscan orogeny formed the massif in a period marked by changing climatic conditions and ocean depth. At Diois and Trièves is a layer of the massif, formed in the Tithonian

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

. Then, about 130 million years ago, in the Cretaceous period, a rise in temperatures combined with shallow waters led to the development of coral reefs, which abounded with

molluscs Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...

, particularly

rudists Rudists are a group of extinct box-, tube- or ring-shaped marine heterodont bivalves belonging to the order Hippuritida that arose during the Late Jurassic and became so diverse during the Cretaceous that they were major reef-building organis ...

. These were the origin of the Urgonian Limestone which forms the upper part of the massif, more prominently in the northern half. This primitive fauna left numerous fossils, some of which have been found at a site near Rencurel in the Coulmes. In the Paleogene period, the Tethys ocean closed up and at the start of the Miocene, the raising of the Alps involved the

thrusting Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that syst ...

of a

nappe In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision zones or on the ...

to the west. Sedimentary rocks were raised above the current location of the Massif des Écrins and faulted and folded in the process. Subsequent marine transgressions were responsible for secondary sedimentation in the basins. There was widening of the gorges and erosion of the cliffs from runoff, leading to the formation of the

molasse __NOTOC__ The term "molasse" () refers to sandstones, shales and conglomerates that form as terrestrial or shallow marine deposits in front of rising mountain chains. The molasse deposits accumulate in a foreland basin, especially on top of flys ...

in the Royans and also in the valleys of Lans, Autrans, and Rencurel. At the close of the Miocene, a new period of uplifting brought about the final receding of the sea. Once formed, the massif underwent severe erosion, which accentuated the relief. The different synclines grew larger, eventually forming valleys including those of Autrans, Méaudre and Lans, Villard, Corrençon, the Col de Romeyère and the Col de Rousset. The water hollowed out the

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landfo ...

of Archiane, the

steephead valley A steephead valley, steephead or blind valley is a deep, narrow, flat bottomed valley with an abrupt ending. Such closed valleys may arise in limestone or karst landscapes, where a layer of permeable rock lies above an impermeable substract such ...

of Bournillon, and the Combe Laval.

Vercors in popular culture

The Vercors have appeared in many films, including; * '' La Bride sur le cou'' (1961) * ''

Wish Me Luck ''Wish Me Luck'' is a British television drama about the exploits of British women undercover agents during the Second World War. The series was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network between 17 January 1988 and 25 February 1990 ...

'' (1987) Season 3 * '' Une hirondelle a fait le printemps'' (2001) * '' The Butterfly'' (2002) * '' To Paint or Make Love'' (2006) * ''

My son My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Marke ...

'' (2017)

References

Sources

(in French). {{Authority control Dauphiné Prealps Plateaus of Metropolitan France Landforms of Drôme Mountains of Isère Landforms of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes