Travel Guide Sauveterre-De-Rouergue

Sauveterre is one of the bastides (these famous "new cities" of the Middle Ages) perfectly preserved that one finds in Rouergue. It is the King of France Philippe III le Hardi who, at the end of XIIIth century, decided the construction of this new city which knew the success thanks to the development of the trade and the craft industry. Witness to this golden era: the gigantic Place des Arcades, the central square lined with arcades of the city, which still houses so many stores. The city reached a sort of apogee in the 16th century and, at the height of its prosperity, decided to build the collegiate church of Saint-Christophe, a parish church adorned with gold and gilt . Today we find in the streets of Sauveterre half-timbered houses, ornamental carved stones, wrought doors, vestiges of fortifications, without forgetting the monumental doors of the city. And among the vestiges to discover, the visitor will be able to admire the "checkerboard plan" of Sauveterre, where the houses are grouped by lots and where all the streets return to the central place, translating an ancestral will to better control the city and its citizens. The city can be reached through four gates, which were at the time protected by a moat and defended by towers. A visit to Sauveterre de Rouergue is like stepping back in time!