Mur de Barrez - Aveyron

Mur-de-Barrez, a medieval town

Market in Mur-de-Barrez
View on the roofs of Mur-de-Barrez
View on the roofs of
Mur-de-Barrez

The Tour de Monaco
a detail of the consular house
A detail of the consular house

Mur-de-Barrez, the district administrative town, is at 800 metres of altitude at the foot of the Cantal mounts in the historic region of Carladez. Situated between Rouergue to the south and Auvergne to the north, it still has an ambivalent character. While belonging to the Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées region, it is known for its Auvergne customs, architecture and geography.
Hammered iron plates on the houses tell of the persons who have marked the history of the town.

The Tour de Monaco

The town was enclosed by four walls, forming a square with a round tower at each of the four corners, and, in the south wall, a great square tower "Lou Pourtal " entrance to the town, continuously guarded night and day. By way of compensation for land lost in Italy, Louis XIII gave the county of Carladez to the prince of Monaco in 1643...
For 148 years, until 1791, Mur-de-Barrez lived through a period of calm under the administration of the princes of Monaco.

The consular house: No. 16, Grand'Rue

In the 16th century, this was the home of the Barthélémy family, who made a fortune as traders. The town owes much to this family, especially the chapterhouse Saint Thomas de Canterbury. The Barthélémy house, rebuilt in the Renaissance Period by the Canilhac family, was "the one that attracted the most attention". It is now used as the town hall.

The house Fualdès: No. 34, Grand'Rue

This house with stone balcony belonged to Antoine Bernardin Fualdès born in Peyrat in 1761. Lawyer in Mur-de-Barrez, prosecutor to King Louis XVIII, he was assassinated in Rodez in 1817 under mysterious circumstances, giving rise to the dark legal plot, the "Fualdès Affaire".

The "chateau" esplanade

The chateau was demolished in 1620 by order of Louis XIII. View of the mounts of Aubrac, Cantal and the basalt plateau of Ronesque; viewing table; below, the convent of Sainte Claire, for nuns of the order of Clarisses.

The Berque gate

"Berque" is an occitan word meaning "gap". This is the northern gate in the town wall by which all attackers entered, especially the Huguenots in 1578.

The convent of Sainte Claire

In the chapel, there is the cross of St Damien painted in the style of an icon by one of the Clarisse nuns.

The church of Saint Thomas de Canterbury

It was begun in the second half of the 12th century and completed in the first years of the 13th century.
Demolished up to the transept in 1593 by the Calvinists, there were formerly seven chapels around the main altar, one of which has survived detached from the church. It can be seen from the "Jardin de Marie", a charming idyllic spot for a moment of wellbeing. The present choir was built after 1660.
Mystery: A recumbent figure as keystone above the gallery, unique in France.
A photograph on the religious heritage page

MUR-de-BARREZ