“The current discontent stems from the stupid and stupid application of the law.” This statement, issued by a pastor a few days before the Assembly of the Desert, a large annual gathering of Protestants held in the south of France on the first Sunday in September, sums up the general feeling of many inhabitants of the Cévennes. From Alès to Vigan and Mont Aigoual (Gard), silent anger is spreading as Protestant families note the increasing difficulties they encounter in burying their deceased in private cemeteries. The permission given to Alain Delon to be buried in the garden of his property only rekindled this deep feeling of injustice.
In this part of France where temples outnumber churches, the territory is still deeply marked by Huguenot resistance dating back to the 17th century.my century, after Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. The ban on Protestant worship forced families to bury their dead underground. “Nobody knows where John Calvin is buried, recalls Gardois Jean-Christophe Muller, former pastor. Families used the cellars of their town houses or their gardens in the countryside, hence the multitude of small cemeteries spread throughout the Cévennes.
The funeral rite has passed through the centuries. “This tradition is an essential element of the identity and collective memory of the Cévennes, and it is also a marker of our landscapes,” explains Virginie Alloux, second deputy mayor of L’Estréchure.
Burial in a private cemetery is regulated by the general code of local authorities. In particular, it is necessary to obtain a certificate from the mayor stating that the cemetery already exists and is located more than 35 metres from any dwelling, and the recent favourable opinion of a hydrogeologist authorised by the ARS (regional health agency). His study must prove the absence of risk of contamination of sources, groundwater or boreholes and prove the good maintenance of the cemetery. An important detail: this cannot be done before death.
A “reminder of the law” in 2021
Until recently, in Gard, families were able to perpetuate their practices without too many restrictions, but on May 25, 2021, a letter from “reminder of the law” issued by the prefecture and was addressed to the department’s funeral directors and mayors. “And then it became very complicated. We have the case of a man who was allowed to be buried at home in 2018, and this was not allowed for his wife in 2022,” testifies Frédérique Pallet, secretary of the town hall of L’Estréchure and Saumane, two municipalities in the Borgne valley, who cites the case of another resident who wanted to be buried “With her husband and her son, but it will certainly be impossible.” In fact, the family cemetery is too close to the houses.
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