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Bastide (planned town)Tarn-et-Garonne

Verdun-sur-Garonne

Verdun-sur-Garonne

Dimensions
The market hall of the 13th century; the clock tower; the church of the Assumption-and-Saint-Michel, begun in 1216, classified as a monument historique, with its gallery organ of 1767 built by the Toulouse organ-builder Jean-François L'Épine; the private castle known as that of Queen Margot; the great avenue of sixty-three plane trees planted in 1815; many dovecotes in the surrounding country.
Period
Church begun in 1216; royal bastide of 1279; enclosure raised again after 1342; jugerie until 1469, then pays de Rivière-Verdun until the Revolution; organ of 1767; avenue of 1815.
What stands there
Church classified as a monument historique. Population of 4,914 inhabitants in 2022. A royal bastide of Eustache de Beaumarchais, seneschal of Toulouse, founded in 1279; seat of a jugerie until its union with that of Rivière in 1469, then of the pays de Rivière-Verdun until the Revolution.

Verdun-sur-Garonne, the "very powerful fortress" of the Gauls, Verodunum, has guarded a crossing of the Garonne between Toulouse and Montauban since antiquity. "In 1279, Eustache de Beaumarchais, seneschal of Toulouse, founded the bastide of Verdun on behalf of the king of France", in the same year as Beaumont-de-Lomagne. Bordering on the English possessions, the town suffered enemy raids during the Hundred Years' War and obtained leave in 1342 to raise its destroyed enclosure again; in 1320, the Shepherds' Crusade had massacred five hundred Jews there. Seat of a jugerie until its union with that of Rivière in 1469, Verdun has kept its market hall of the 13th century, its clock tower, its church of the Assumption-and-Saint-Michel, begun in 1216 and classified, with its organ of 1767 by Jean-François L'Épine, the private castle known as that of Queen Margot, and an avenue of sixty-three plane trees planted in 1815.

Getting there : Free access to the town; the market hall and the church may be visited freely, the castle is private.

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

Ambient sound

Verdun-sur-Garonne
Thérèse Gaigé · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Tarn-et-Garonne (23).