Cathédrale Saint-Alain de Lavaur et le bûcher de 1211

Lavaur

In the spring of 1211, Lavaur was the largest place in the Toulousain to shelter Good Men: its lady, Guiraude de Laurac, and her brother Aimery de Montréal had gathered a garrison there and, it is said, the most numerous Cathar community in the country. Simon de Montfort besieged it for more than a month with crusaders come from Germany and the North; the town fell on 3 May 1211 through a breach in the rampart. Aimery and eighty knights were hanged — the gallows collapsed under the weight, and their throats were cut. Guiraude was thrown into a well and covered with stones, "which was grief and loss, writes the Chanson, for no one ever went away from her without having eaten". Finally "four hundred heretics" were burned in a meadow beside the Agout: the largest pyre of the whole crusade. The cathedral one sees, of pink brick and Toulouse Gothic, was rebuilt on the old church from 1255 and enlarged when Lavaur became a bishopric in 1317, on the very lands of the lady put to death. The jacquemart of the bell tower has struck the hours since 1523.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Saint-Alain ↗

Getting there : In the centre of Lavaur, place Saint-Alain, at the edge of the terrace above the Agout. Open during the day, admission free; the jacquemart strikes the hours. Lavaur station (Toulouse-Mazamet line). The bishop's garden, behind the apse, looks onto the river.

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

Ambient sound