They are distinguished by their emblematic organization, their abundant architectural details and their friendly soul that has spanned the centuries. Discovering the bastides of the South-West.
The Encyclopedia Minute
Understanding the origin of the bastides
"New towns" built in a period of prosperity, the bastides are fortified towns that appeared by the hundreds in the South-West of France during the Middle Ages. Their particularity? The surveyors, emeritus and pragmatic mathematicians, imagine them around a central square that has hosted all the city's activity for centuries. They draw straight streets designed to facilitate trade and the circulation of carts. A regular plan, if the relief allows it, where one still takes pleasure in getting lost in the maze of time.
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Lisle sur Tarn
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Briatexte
Born from the will of Simon Briseteste, this bastide is today one of the representatives of this architecture of the southwest. Through the alleys of this fortified village, the walls still seem to whisper the stories of centuries past. We advise you to go and take a look at the residence of Messire de Montalivet, it constitutes in itself an open book on the history of the wars of religion which marked Briatexte. The church which stands outside the old fortifications is also one of the monuments to discover, as is the last defensive ditch of the city which is nicknamed here the Dadou. Stroll through the gridded alleys of Briatexte, typical of the identity of the bastides, you will certainly come across the main square lined with covered. Briatexte is also the starting point of many hiking trails, the best to discover the Tarn in its truest form!
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Ropes on Sky
Themes
