La Bastide-l'Évêque

Le Bas Ségala

On the plateau of the Ségala, a few kilometres from Villefranche-de-Rouergue, La Bastide-l'Évêque is one of the five bastides of western Rouergue. It was founded in 1280 by Raymond de Calmont, bishop of Rodez, and endowed with a charter the same year, on the spoils of the Morlhon, faidit lords, to counter the comital bastide of Villefranche and to assert episcopal power. It was a political failure: the bastide remained a village, but a village on a geometrical plan, parallel streets leading to a central square, cut across by transverse streets and lanes. The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, of the 13th and 14th centuries, on a pentagonal plan, carries an imposing porch tower straddling a cart track, in the manner of the collegiate church of Villefranche. In the valley of the Lézert, thirteen martinets, water-powered forges for copper, bear witness to an activity that lasted from the 14th to the 19th century.

Getting there : Village with free access; the martinet of La Ramonde can be visited according to the commune. No market documented in the texts.

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

Ambient sound