Travel Guide Lavaur

The charming town of Lavaur dominates the left bank of the Agout river, about forty kilometers from Toulouse. A former medieval stronghold, it was the setting for a tragic episode in the Albigensian crusade. The city, which served as a refuge for persecuted Cathars, was indeed besieged by Simon de Montfort in May 1211. Dame Guiraude, lord of the place, put up fierce resistance to the crusaders before finally being taken and thrown alive into a stone-filled well. Her brother, Amauric de Montréal, and eighty of his knights perished by the sword and four hundred heretics died at the stake, the largest in the history of the crusade. On the esplanade of the Plô, on the site of the old castle, a stele recalls the sinister event. Nearby, the tangle of old streets of the old town will give access to the Cordeliers church, the Occitane and Soleilhou house, the English gardens of the bishop's palace, the Rondes tower, the Las Cases monument, the Three Graces fountain, the Saint-Roch bridge and the Séjourné viaduct. The Hôtel de Voisins, the Hôtel des Postes and the Hôtel de Glanouze are worth a visit. Open your eyes wide and discover this pleasant scenery marked by time. From a historical and cultural point of view, the commune is in the Laurageais, the old "Pays de Cocagne", linked to both the culture of pastel and the abundance of products. The commune has a remarkable natural heritage: a Natura site 2000 and two natural areas of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest.