Superstition and legend surrounds the site and from a distance the old pile of rocks looks like an ancient ruined city
(some say) built by fairies or giants and destroyed by the devil or a malevolent spirit.
The name comes from the shepherds who moved their flocks in summer from the plains of Languedoc towards the mountains in the north.
They would have known the city of Montpellier, referred to by the locals as Lo Clapàs which is Occitan for pile of rocks.
Occitan for ancient or old is Vièlh, so this ancient pile of rocks or ancient city became Lo Clapàs Vièlh
or Montpelhièr lo Vièlh or in French Montpellier-le-Vieux.
To walk to Montpellier le Vieux, start from the path 50 metres down the road to the left of the restaurant/bar in La Roque Sainte Marguerite. The walk takes just over an hour and the map below shows how not to get lost in the last section of the walk!
