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LA COUVERTOIRADE

La Couvertoirade Kingdom of the Templars.

Rising out of the immensity of Larzac with its towers and walls, la Couvertoirade is one of the most famous Templar villages in the Aveyron. 118 Km southeast of Rodez, and 30 min from the Millau viaduct, it is one of the most beautiful villages in France.

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LA COUVERTOIRADE - Aveyron (12)

Among the different Templar villages located on the Causse du Larzac (La Cavalerie, Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon, Viala-du-Pas-de-Jaux, ...), La Couvertoirade is without a doubt the best known because of the fact that it is so well preserved.

In the stones of La Couvertoirade one can read the history of the Knights Templar. They occupied Larzac from the 12th to the 14th century. The soldier monks of this military order were not just fighters. They were also builders, clever administrators, gatherers of dispersed populations and producers of agricultural wealth. They thus made the land of Larzac productive, mainly to feed the war efforts of their crusading brothers.

In 1312, Philippe le Bel declared the Knights Templar heretics and abolished their order. On the Larzac, they were replaced by the Knights Hospitaller who perpetuated their work until the end of the 18th century. Punctuated with circular towers, crossed by a rampart, the fortified wall of La Couvertoirade keeps the memory of the knights alive. The castle, built in 1249, with its trapezoid keep, watches over flagstone roofs of the town. It is worth taking your time to see all the old houses of the 15th, 16th and especially 17th centuries with their exterior staircases and their ground floors whose vaults today house many craft shops.

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