Bastide de Briatexte

Briatexte

On the bank of the Dadou, Briatexte is a royal bastide founded in 1287 by Simon de Briseteste, seneschal of Carcassonne, on behalf of Philip the Fair, on the site of the Cathar village of Les Touelles razed in 1212 by the troops of Simon de Montfort; it was meant to counter its neighbour Saint-Gauzens. Its rectangular plan has remained legible: a square with covered arcades from which the main streets run out, blocks cut through by carreyrous, a church of Notre-Dame de Beaulieu set outside the old fortifications. Fortified in the 14th century, won over to the Reformation in the 16th, the town became a Huguenot stronghold: its temple replaced the church destroyed about 1574, and in 1622 it withstood a month of siege before the 7,000 men of the duke of Vendôme. The ramparts were razed in 1629, the temple in 1685.

Getting there : Free access to the town and to the square with covered arcades. No tourist office or market is documented in the texts.

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

Ambient sound