The ‘Grand Site de France® Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert – Gorges de l’Hérault' (Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert – Hérault Gorges Major Tourist Attraction) is best-known for Gellone Abbey, founded by Charlemagne's cousin, Guilhem. Extolled by troubadours during the Middle Ages, Guilhem became famous for his military campaigns against the Saracens. The hero of the siege of Barcelona in 803, he eventually decided to lay down his arms to become a monk. In 804, guided by Saint-Benoît d'Aniane, he founded a monastery in the isolated Gellone valley.
From the 10th century onwards, Guilhem was known as Saint-Guilhem and the spiritual importance of Gellone was further strengthened. The monastery became a privileged stopping place
along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
At the beginning of the 11th century, reconstruction of the Abbey began. It is a symbol
of early Romanesque art in Languedoc.
The Abbey is also classed as a UNESCO World Heritage site by virtue of its position on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, as is the nearby Pont du Diable bridge, considered to be one of the oldest medieval bridges in France. It is situated at the extreme southern end of the Hérault gorges,
at the point where they suddenly open out onto the plains of Languedoc.