Travel Guide Bonnefont

It is the second largest municipality in the country of Trie in terms of population: 340. The village is marked by the history of Montespan. This powerful family left Antin around the middle of the 14th century to join Bonnefont where they owned a mansion more comfortable than their castle in Antin. In 1561, Jeanne d'Antin, who already lived in Bonnefont, married Hector Baron de Montespan, from the family of Pardfailhan Gondrin... The manor house of Bonnefont was then named Château de Monterpan. From their union was born Antoine Arnaud de Montespan who had 15 children including the eldest, Hector himself had 4 children including the famous Marquis de Montespan who married Athénaïs de Rochechouart, known as La Montespan when she became Louis XIV's favourite. Henri Louis de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Marquis de Montespan, also introduced to the court, took the fly and left Versailles in a carriage, claiming throughout his journey that he was now a widower. Montespan never joined him and after 10 years of good and loyal service to the sovereign she fell into disgrace for the benefit of La Maintenon.Today, Bonnefont is a very friendly village, bathed by the Baïse, with a beautiful town centre with church, town hall, post office, public library and all the charm of the vintage front of the old bistro - the café Puchéou. The banks of the Baïse with its riverbank path, its flowered fallows, its fishing course and its picnic area are not lacking in charm. Families are happy to come and stroll around. Another special feature of Bonnefont is that the town has two churches: the Saint-Félix church in the village - where you can see a wooden candelabra from the Château de Montespan and a bell with the inscription of its generous donor from Montespan - and the church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, in the hamlet of La Hitte. Also noteworthy is the Oratory of St. Rita, patron saint of desperate causes. There is no doubt that she is helping this very friendly village to get its head out of the Baïse... Imagine there were 1,200 inhabitants in Bonnefont in 1850! Fortunately, the exodus is now halted.