Dunes

Dunes

Dunes is a bastide at the far west of the Tarn-et-Garonne, on the borders of the Agenais, whose name is said to come from the Celtic root duno, the hill or the fortress. The town hall's website dates its foundation to 1253, the work of the Durfort family and of the seneschal of the Agenais, confirmed in 1268 by Alphonse of Poitiers, who granted the customs; the tourist office relates that Philippe de Villefavreuse proposed to the lord Raymond de Durfort, about 1268, that the town be raised to a bastide, at the moment when the count of Toulouse was seeking to establish royal power in the Agenais. Administered by consuls, besieged in 1337, sacked during the Wars of Religion, raised to a marquisate under Louis XIV, Dunes has kept its plan and its square lined with covered arcades and half-timbered houses of the 16th century, its church of Sainte-Madeleine of the 13th century and the tower of Turas, known as the Templars' tower.

Getting there : Free access to the town; the square with covered arcades and the church may be visited freely.

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

Ambient sound