Is a walled village, founded by the Knights Templars in the 12th century. Hidden
away in the barren lands of the Larzac. Its towers and ramparts are almost intact. When the
Templars order was suppressed in the 14th century, their property was transferred to the Knights
of St. John of Jerusalem, who further enlarged and strengthened the strongholds.
In 1159, just after the first crusade, the Count of Barcelona, King of Aragon turned over his
possessions in Larzac to Élie de Montbrun, the Temple master of Rouergue. The Templars,
a religious military order, would henceforth protect these new lands, build strongholds and
make them prosper. They turned out to be excellent administrators and developed agriculture and
sheep raising, as can be seen from many of the "granges", the former Templar farms, that still
dot the countryside. |
