The highest point of the commune of Montreal is the Pech de Mont Naut (442 metres high).  This area is part of the Massif de la Malepère whose name comes from “mala peira” (in Occitan, a local dialect, it means “bad stone”).

It is a small uncultivated region shaped like a flattened cone, between the Carcassés and the Bas-Razés.  It seems that the area was given over to grazing cattle and providing wood.  Within the cultivated lands and forests, one can observe intermediate stages of reclaiming the natural vegetation: lawn, fallow land and copses.  Nowadays the forested lands are extensive, in essence consisting of the Bois du Chapitre (former possessions of the collegial church’s canons) and the Bois de Las Mounjos.

These areas represent an interesting ecological system at the point where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean influences meet.  The dominant species of vegetation are pubescent oaks which benefit from the Mediterranean climate.  However, the presence of other species shows a great vegetal diversity; green oaks that characterise Mediterranean climates, the peduncle oaks that are attributed to Atlantic climates, the sessile oaks that are mostly found in middle Europe and of less importance, the beech trees that grow in hilly areas.

Such a mosaic of vegetation is due to a combination of climate, topography, soil type and probably human activity.

It is interesting to point out the statement made in a geographic and vegetation study which says that the Massif was used as a scientific base for the reintroduction of the Malepère’s vineyards.