Olargues

Olargues is a beautiful example of a French Medieval (i.e. 12^th century) town. In fact, it is an example of an ancient town RESTORED in medieval times.

Town shown to the left – thanks to Wikipedia; we neglected to take a distance photo.

At the top of the hill is the bell tower. This is a remnant of the ancient (11th century) main tower of the medieval castle (Romanesque construction), converted in the 15th century to a church. The old village is clustered around the bell tower.

The Orb-Jaur valley where the town was sited has been inhabited since prehistory; neolithic traces have been found here.

The Ligurians (never heard of them before) arrived around 1000 BC; then came the Iberians, the Volcae Tectosages (also never heard of them), then the Celts.

In 118 BC the Romans arrived. With the ultimate demise of their empire, they were replaced by the Goths. The area was further invaded by the Moors, the Arabs, the Vandals, the Visigoths, and the Vikings (who knew that group came so far south) and so on.

The Devil's Bridge, the three arched bridge to the left in the photo above, is said to date back to 1202 and is reputed to be the scene of transactions between the people of Olargues and the devil, to protect them from further raids.

The transaction seemed to have worked...eventually...as Olargues became reestablished in the 18th century based on the prosperity of local farmers and artisans.

The town is entered through a medieval stone arched gateway.
 
Sorry this is so dark; I've been having camera problems.

Walking through the village and the castle remains you're always going uphill or downhill.

 

This is a staircase/alley leading from one level of the town to another.




This part of the village is like a rabbit warren with stairs leading to different levels. It appears to be part of a complex built within the castle walls.

This staircase adjacent to the church led to a large complex of a living quarters. In some areas the apartments or homes appeared vacant and neglected. But we were surprised to find that some apartments within the castle walls still seem to be inhabited.

There were new doors that appeared to indicate inhabited quarters; we saw one woman sweeping the area outside her door.

 Imagine living in a place that was built in the 5th or 6th century or even the 12th century. Talk about walking through history.

Various remnants of the past fortifications can be seen, such as parts of the original ramparts.

There seems to be major reconstruction going on in the ramparts of the castle. Note the exposed rock here. It seems like the whole village was built into and around the existing rock of the hill.




The above doorway bore a sign saying, "Place forte du Languedoc de 12 au 17 seicle. Distruction sur ordre de Louis XIII a la demande de Richelieu. Sur la route Vieille Toulouse de Nimes a Toulouse. The story of the stronghold's demise.



The Church of Saint-Laurent was built in the 17th century using stone from the ramparts.

At the bottom of the old town there's a new section. There we discovered a wonderful restaurant, Restaurant Laissac, in what would, here in France, be a new part of town, but in Canada would be considered historical.

We had one of the best meals in France at this location: an appetizer of smoked trout gelee and some smoked salmon with incredible French bread. For the entre we both had braised duck with delicious small chunks of potatoes.

For dessert, Gill had a lemon torte that she almost melted over; only prudence prevented her from having a second helping. I had creme brule. It was very good. Jen would approve of this place.

Some of the meals we've had here have been incredible. I'm starting to take photos of them to send to you.