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Bastide (planned town)Ariège

La Bastide-de-Sérou

La Bastide-de-Sérou

Dimensions
The present covered market, built in 1829-1830, replaced an older one carried on twenty-one stone pillars. The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, much altered, preserves a 15th-century Rhenish Christ and a Pietà, both classified. The Tour du Loup, inscribed as a monument historique in 1994 and 1995, is the most evocative remnant of the walled town, whose line was followed by escoussières. The chapel of Saint-Roch dates from 1852; the former Cordeliers convent has housed a farm since 1882.
Period
Comital bastide of 1246, charter of 1252, enclosure with four gates, castle razed under Louis XIII, covered market of 1829-1830.
What stands there
Three protected monuments: the church of Unjat (inscribed in 1992), the Gallo-Roman copper mine of Goutil (classified in 1982) and the Tour du Loup (inscribed in 1994 and 1995). The commune numbered nearly 3,000 inhabitants in 1851. The title of mayor appears there as early as 1745, and women took part in decisions on an equal footing with men.

Between Foix and Saint-Girons, on the Arize, La Bastide-de-Sérou is one of the bastides that the counts of Foix created to secure the west of their domain. The place was called Montesquieu around 1150 and had two quarters, the Noir and the Faurie; in 1246, after Le Mas-d'Azil, the count made it the Bastide d'Antuzan, then Roger IV gave it a charter in 1252 and ringed it with walls pierced by four gates, those of the Mas, of Foix, of the Arize and of the Faurie. A castle, mentioned in 1255, housed the count's garrison and a prison; it was razed by order of Louis XIII, and the town remained walled until 1672. Legend attaches to the Tour du Loup the memory of Ferdinande de Nègrepont, the repudiated wife of Gaston I of Foix. The village keeps its covered market of 1829-1830 and its church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste with its 15th-century Rhenish Christ.

Further reading

Getting there : Free access to the village. The Mondely reservoir lake is supervised in summer. The former railway from Foix to Saint-Girons has become a greenway.

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

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

La Bastide-de-Sérou
Sergio09200 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Ariège (25).