miner cevennes valley Vallée Longue Lozère Gard France

Commune
Saint Michel de Dèze,
Lozére, France

EXHIBITION:

a manE

a profession

a region

Elie Cellier

miner

la vallée Longue

A man :

Elie Cellier was a rough and warmhearted man, a miner to the backbone.
Besides his work, he had the extraordinary gift to repair old tools, and to reproduce objects of daily life of different scales and different materials.
With this handiness he sculpted in all kind of materials and had great drawing-talent .
If he had cultivated his gifts he surely should have been an artist.

The present colllections bears witness to his talents.

Elie Cellier

A profession :

Elie Cellier was depth-miner for more than 30 years in the coal-mines of the Cévennes, first in Alès, later in la Grand-Combe.

In the beginning, compelled by necessity he went into the dark for lack of something better.

Then little by little it starts to passionate him. At the age of pension he really was proud of his work and sincerely disappointed that not all his sons could find work in this branch.

It's the mine like Elie had seen, understood and felt. That's why in his collections the coal-mine takes a important place.

A region, la vallée Longue

So Elie decided to settle down in the Vallée Longue.

The Vallée Longue is the most characteristically marked valley of the Cevennes by the mines and miners.

In recent history, over the last one and a half century, metal mines have brought periods of fortune : Le Collet de Dèze, Saint-Michel de Dèze, Saint-Privat de Vallongue.
The very explosive development of the coal-mines in la Grand Combe has creating the earning of a whole agricultural population which sold all its products at the Grand-Combe's market.

It's no wonder that something strong tied Elie to this region, shown by certain parts of his collection.

VISITING

Tuesday and Friday 2.p.m.- 6.30 p.m. during French schoolholidays
Friday 2.30 - 6.30 p.m. outer French summer-holiday .
groups with appointment answer phone 00 33 (0)4 66 45 51 83.

situation