Saturday 21 March 2015

Monflanquin – a mediaeval town


Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town


Monflanquin is a hill top bastide town in the Lot and Garonne region of South West France – part of the Aquitaine of Eleanor of Aquitaine fame. 


The bastide was built in 1256.  Monflanquin changed hands several times during the Hundred Years War. 
 

Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town


Bastides were built between the 13th and 14th centuries.  Most have a grid layout with a central market square surrounded by arcades.  Monflanquin is one of the most historically intact bastides in France.

Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town


The statue of a soldier is a typical WWII memorial in French towns.

Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town

The Mairie (town hall), as is usual, was beautifully decorated with floral hanging baskets and the obligatory flags.  The central square was surrounded by leafy trees. 

There were flowers everywhere but no normal shops. However there are lots of restaurants. Pretty much everyone eats lunch out in France.  We found that there was plenty of parking even though we were there in late July which is supposed to be high season.



Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town

We went into the Eglise Saint Andre (St Andrew's Church)  It was a large church for a small town. 

Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town

There were some nice stained glass windows.

Carole's Chatter: Monflanquin – a mediaeval town

This is the nice view over the valley from Monflanquin

2 comments:

  1. Carole, I've just read A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman (about 14th century France and England), so seeing pictures from a fortified town in Aquitaine was a nice surprise. Thanks for sharing the photos from your travels!

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  2. Love the pic of the glass window. I like to go to churches and photograph the glass windows, so you definitely hit it out of the park in my book. :-)

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