Lauzerte

Since April 1990 Lauzerte has been one of the villages classified as “Most Beautiful Villages of France”. These are villages selected for the quality of their heritage, their architecture and their environment. A stopping point on the Way of St. James, the hilltop village of Lauzerte overlooks the valleys and hills of Quercy Blanc. Known as the Toledo of Quercy, this mediaeval fortified town, founded in 1241 by the Count of Toulouse, contains a superb rectangular square surrounded by old stone and timber-framed houses.

The upper town, exemplary of medieval architecture, organises its houses around St-Barthélemy church and Place des Cornières, one of the most beautiful in the region. The ramparts evoke the role played by Lauzerte, torn between the English and the French during the Hundred Years War. The old residences, in Gothic or Renaissance style, remind us that the city was also a paradise for wealthy magistrates and prosperous merchants.