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Bastide (planned town)Haute-Garonne

Saint-Félix-Lauragais

Saint-Félix-Lauragais

Dimensions
The outermost line of houses forms a continuous rampart, preceded by a ditch, which encloses the perched village. The castle, the former residence of Pierre d'Euze, keeps the remains of a powerful square tower. The collegiate church of Saint-Félix, an immense vessel with a Gothic chancel of the 16th century, dominates the market hall of the 15th century. A wrought-iron cross of the 18th century, the presbytery and the birthplace of Déodat de Séverac complete the route.
Period
Castrum of the 11th century, destroyed in 1211; customs of 1245; collegiate church in 1317; market hall of the 15th century; siege of 1570.
What stands there
The collegiate church has been classified since 1920, the market hall since 1926 and the castle since 1994; the ramparts and the presbytery have been inscribed since 1927, the birthplace of Déodat de Séverac since 1990. The village numbered 3,020 inhabitants in 1800 and 1,255 in 2022.

Perched on a ridge of the Lauragais, between Revel and Villefranche, Saint-Félix-Lauragais, formerly Saint-Félix-de-Caraman, is one of the finest villages of the pays de Cocagne. A castle is recorded there as early as 1033, and it was in this castrum that the Cathar council presided over by Nicetas is said to have been held in 1167, an episode that Wikipedia judges legendary and unattested. Destroyed by Simon de Montfort in 1211, the town was refounded in the 13th century: a charter of customs was granted in 1245, and two local sources attribute the new town, castelnau or bastide, to the administration of the seneschal Eustache de Beaumarchais. The village closes itself off with a continuous rampart of houses, beneath a powerful square tower partly razed under the Revolution. The collegiate church established by John XXII in 1317, the 15th-century market hall and the birthplace of the composer Déodat de Séverac complete an exceptional ensemble.

Further reading

Getting there : Free access to the village. The fête de la Cocagne is held there over the Easter weekend.

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

Saint-Félix-Lauragais
Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Haute-Garonne (42).