The 17th-century Saint-Véran parish church stands at an altitude of 6,699 ft (2,042 m) in the center of the eponymous village, sometimes qualified as the highest municipality in France. It also bears a sundial whose inscription Lou plus aouto coumunoutas inte se mangeu lou pan de Diou (The highest locality where we eat the bread of God) establishes a relationship between altitude and rye culture that, until the floods of 1957, served to make bread. In the minds of the ancients, Saint-Véran was, therefore, just the highest village where bread made with cereals grown in the surrounding fields was eaten. The territory of Saint-Véran extends over 11,060 acres (4,475 ha) between 5,761 and 10,416 ft (1,756 and 3,175 m).