Travel Guide Verfeil

The name of Verfeil, twenty kilometres from Toulouse on the road to Lavaur, remains very attached to an episode of Catharism in 1147. It is said that Bernard of Clairvaux, a formidable abbot, was attracted to Verfeil that year by the rumour of rapid progress of heretical beliefs in the South of France. In his sermon, Saint Bernard accused the nobility of protecting the Cathars. The lords pointing his finger left the church, followed by the people and the saint, who continued to exhort the crowd. As he was not listened to, he cursed the village in these words: "Verfeil (green leaf) may God dry you out". Considered from that day on as "the seat of Satan", the city was ruined in 1214 by Simon de Montfort. Today Verfeil is a charming little village in the countryside where it is good to live while being only a few kilometres from the big city. One must see the remaining foundation of the castle (13th century), as well as the 16th century church, whose bell tower collapsed in 1924 and whose 15th century bell has been miraculously preserved. Two kilometres from Verfeil, in the direction of Lavaur, nostalgic visitors can come and see the castle that was home to the Malaret family, as well as the graves of Camille and Madeleine, the authentic "Little Model Girls" of the Countess de Ségur, who rest here after a full life. It is also possible to see the castle of the inventor and builder of the Canal du Midi, Pierre-Paul Riquet.