Lauzerte, a medieval city with many attractions

Privileged stopover on the roads to St-Jacques de Compostelle. Lauzerte is a medieval bastide classified among the "Most Beautiful Villages of France", nicknamed the "Toledo of Quercy".

Lauzerte also finished 4th favorite village in 2019 in Stéphane Bern's show.

Originally, Lauzerte was a Gallic oppidum. Its current name dates from around the year 1000 and is derived from the Latin "lucerna", lamp. It designates an ideal position, visible from afar as a light.

At the end of the 12th century, the Count of Toulouse received the hill as a gift to build a "castelnau", a city protected by a castle.



"The upper town, an example of medieval architecture, organizes its houses around the church of Saint Barthélemy and the Place des Cornières, one of the most beautiful in the region. The ramparts evoke the role played by Lauzerte, torn between the English and the French during the Hundred Years War. The old houses, Gothic or Renaissance style, remind us that the city was also a paradise for rich magistrates and prosperous merchants."

In Lauzerte, you must see the Place des Cornières, modest in size but a real place of life and lined with round arches, basket handles and houses from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

The church of Saint-Barthélemy which houses stalls, paintings, baroque altarpiece, painted panelling attributed to Joseph Ingres, interesting choir organ...

You should also see the esplanade that replaces the Barbican, a defensive structure that protected the Porte d'Auriac, and the Pilgrim's Garden, which is like a game of goose that traces the history and the initiatory route of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and whose entrance is free all year round.

Other sights include the Grand Rue and the Rue de la Garrigue, lined with medieval houses, the Place de la Brèche, the Rue dela Mairie and the Rue du Château with their medieval remains, the Place du Château, the Promenade de l'Eveillé, the Eglise des Carmes...

Lauzerte is also the city of Jacques Buchholtz, a world-renowned ceramist whose ceramic works can be admired along the medieval streets.

Last but not least, there are about fifteen wrought iron signs made by Sylvain Soligon, a former wrought iron worker whose son Didier continues the tradition.

 

Finally, three thematic guided tours are offered:

"Guided tours of Lauzerte".
Discover the castle founded by Raymond V, count of Toulouse. All public, individuals, families and groups (on reservation all year long with group rates).

"Night tour with torches".
Discover the architecture and history of Lauzerte in an unusual way.

"The art of the table in the Middle Ages
What did people eat in the Middle Ages? Visit of the city, reconstitutions of tables and tasting of local products at the end of the tour.

 

 

Tourist Office

3, place des Cornières,

82110 Lauzerte

Tel : 05 63 94 61 94

 

http://www.quercy-sud-ou

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

(free version)

 


To go further....

Histoire de Lauzerte

« Peu de villes dans la province de Quercy ont eu l'importance de celle dont nous parlons », écrit l'Abbé Taillefer dans son ouvrage publié en 1902.
L'histoire de Lauzerte, depuis les origines jusqu'en 1792, est narrée dans cet ouvrage. On assiste à la fondation de la ville à la fin du XIIe siècle, sur la requête d'Arnaud-Gausbert-de-Gastanber, seigneur d'Aucastels, auprès du comte de Toulouse. Ce dernier fit construire un château près des ruines de l'ancienne ville de Lauzerte, probablement anéantie par les invasions des époques précédentes. En février 1241, Raymond VII dotait la ville d'une charte de coutumes que le lecteur pourra découvrir dans son texte original et dans sa traduction.
L'auteur décrit la ville au XIVe siècle ; elle était entourée de murailles flanquées de tours qui reliaient le château fort à l'hôpital Saint-Barthélemy. On y pénétrait par l'une des six portes : celle du château, d'Abelhé, de Milhac, de Pazols, de la Barbacane, de Lagarrigue. Il relate la tradition voulant que Charlemagne à son retour d'Espagne, ait laissé une statuette de la Vierge dans l'église Notre-Dame-de-Vaulx. On assiste à la délivrance de la ville aux mains des Anglais grâce à la Grandilloune, cette vieille veuve qui eut l'idée de mettre dans son tablier autant de marrons qu'elles voyait sortir d'Anglais de la ville. Un jour, elle apporta tous ses marrons au consul qui donna l'ordre de fermer les portes de la ville : ainsi, Lauzerte fut la première ville qui chassa les Anglais.

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