Lacaune, the capital of charcuterie, fountains and… urinals

Lacaune, a small town in the Tarn, is a haven for gourmets and food lovers.

Its charcuterie is amongst the best in France.

But Lacaune is also a land of water.

There are numerous fountains and wash houses to discover.

The ‘Fontaine des Pisseurs’

The most remarkable fountain is undoubtedly the ‘Fontaine des Pisseurs’, situated on the Place du Griffoul, which was built in Lacaune in the 16th century and was listed as a historic monument in 1913.

It dates from the 15th century and is said to symbolise the diuretic properties of Lacaune’s waters.

The centre of the basin is occupied by a sort of baluster supporting four small figures, the ‘pisseurs’ – in fact, the former consuls of Lacaune.

The washhouse basins were installed in the 19th century beneath the 16th-century vaults.

But also...
Don’t miss the Musée du Vieux Lacaune, a former consular house listed as a historic monument in 1913.

Also worth seeing are the former Dragoon barracks and the Courroupias fountain, the oldest in Lacaune. 

A relic of the Cathar resistance, the Peyrehuc cross serves as a reminder of a cruel episode in the Albigensian Crusade.

Carrying on, you’ll come to the Ramond Spinning Mill, founded in 1841, where the machinery is still in working order.

A must-see: the Maison de la Charcuterie, an 18th-century building rebuilt on the site of the former leper colony.

More water features include the Fountain of the Virgin, whose plinth contains a bottle bearing the names of local residents who, at the end of the 19th century, donated money to restore it.

The Church of Notre-Dame, built in 1668, is also well worth a look.

Also not to be missed are the fountain trail, Place du Griffoul, the Pic de Montalet footpath, the Pierre Plantée (the most imposing menhir statue in Europe), the greenway along the Petit Train trail, the Espace des Sources Chaudes, the Enfant Sauvage trail (April to October), and the grounds of Calmels Castle…

The Lacaune region boasts the highest concentration of menhir statues in Europe.
In the 18th century, the incredible story of the ‘Enfant Sauvage’ shook the people of Lacaune: an autistic child found in 1798 by a group of peasants in the woods of La Bassine, whose story inspired François Truffaut’s famous film.