Perigord - South West
Monpazier is labelled a "Grand site national", it has no less than 32 listed buildings and is regarded as the prime example of a "bastide" among the 300 in South-western France. Monpazier has had countless awards to salute, but also to protect, the outstanding heritage of this fortified village that was founded by Edward I of England in 1284.
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The fortified village of Puycelci watches over Grésigne Forest from the top of a rocky plateau overlooking the Vère valley. 14C and 15C houses made of stone, wood and brick are revealed behind more than 800 m of ramparts and the rampart walk offers wonderful views of the surrounding scenery.
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Built in 1255 on a rocky spur bypassed by the River Auzoue, Montréal was the first Gascon “bastide”. The streets are laid out on a grid pattern and lead to the main square with an arcade and half-timbered houses from where visitors can discover the gothic church which is partly fortified. On the neighbouring hill of Séviac, the 4C villa paved with more than thirty multi-coloured mosaic tilings serves as a reminder that the village was built on a former Gallo-Roman site.
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Perched above the valleys and hills of Quercy Blanc, this fortified village founded in the 12C by the Count of Toulouse is on the "via Podiensis", one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Many traces of its historical and religious past still remain intact : the main square and its cobblestones, stone-built or half-timbered houses, and the pilgrim’s garden to name but a few
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The walls of Larressingle rise up amid the vineyards in Armagnac country, just a short distance from Condom. The ochre and grey stone houses still with their mullioned windows and arched doorways are clustered around the castle keep and its twin-nave church. This is an ideal spot to appreciate not only the charm but also the food of the Gers.
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At the southernmost tip of Corrèze, not far from the Lot, Curemonte stretches out along a ridge overlooking the Sourdoire and Maumont valleys. In addition to the round and square towers of its three castles and its 12C Romanesque church, the village also has several “noble houses” and a corn exchange dating back to the early 19C which houses a 16C cross shaft.
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On the banks of the Dordogne, Renaissance houses with sculpted windows and brown roofs are clustered around an 11C Cluniac priory where French writer and prelate Fénelon once lived. Near the Romanesque church and its cloister, the Château des Doyens invites you to discover the treasures of this Pays d’Art et d’Histoire-labelled region to which Carennac belongs.
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Beynac-et-Cazenac lies 10 kilometres southwest of Sarlat, on the banks of the Dordogne, and boasts an imposing castle, once besieged by Richard the Lion Heart, around which "lauze" stone slab-roofed houses with their creamy façades are built.
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A stopping place on the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela between Toulouse and Agen, on the banks of the Garonne, Auvillar is revealed through one of the 3 gateways that cut through its fortifications and lead to the square where a circular corn exchange can be admired – the only one of its kind in Southwest France.
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