Bastide de Laparade

Laparade

Perched on a terrace overlooking the valley of the Lot, Laparade offers one of the most celebrated panoramas of the Lot-et-Garonne, which perhaps explains its name: in 1277 Castelseigneur became Laparade, the place "from which the finest view is discovered". The bastide had been founded in 1265 by Alphonse of Poitiers, in paréage with the abbey of Clairac, and endowed in 1267 with customs guaranteeing the absence of bodily servitudes and of arbitrary taille, a municipal regime and royal safeguard. Handed over to the English by the treaty of Brétigny, retaken in 1370, disputed by Spanish mercenaries in 1434 and 1437, turned Huguenot, taken by storm in 1573, dismantled in 1622, it has kept its regular plan, its square framed by two wells, its market hall with oak pillars of 1762, classified as a monument historique, and the remains of its ramparts above the Lot.

Getting there : Free access to the village, to the market hall and to the belvedere. Organic produce markets in summer and the feast of Saint John, according to Wikipedia; no tourist office or opening times documented in the texts.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound