Classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France, Larressingle is also considered the smallest fortified village in France.
Located west of Condom, this 13th century village, preserved by wars and masterfully restored is a magnificent example of a fortified village.
And yet...
At the beginning of the 20th century, the citadel was doomed to disappear, with only three houses still inhabited, the others being transformed into barns or abandoned.
It was the Duke of Treviso who initiated its restoration, thanks in particular to donors, most of whom came from Boston.
Indeed Laressingle owes a lot to generous American patrons whose names are engraved in the village stone.
In 1920, Edouard Mortier, a descendant of the Marshal of the Empire Duke of Treviso, Adolphe Mortier, intervened. Edouard Mortier left for the United States to sensitize the Americans to the need to safeguard French heritage.
He collects a lot of money which will contribute largely to the rehabilitation of Laressingle.
The town houses two museums, one inside the town walls presenting daily life in the Middle Ages, the second, located outside, offers medieval war machines reproduced identically.
Another curiosity, the castle.
Of trapezoidal shape, flanked by a pentagonal tower, it rises on three floors above the ground floor. The first two date from the 13th century, the third from the beginning of the 14th century.
The church of Saint-Sigismond and the Pilgrim's Stopover Museum should not be forgotten as Larressingle is one of the stages of the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
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