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In 1998, UNESCO listed the routes to Compostela * as World Heritage. The Midi-Pyrénées Region is the region with the most monuments classified UNESCO as the main landmarks on the roads to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle. So many sites to visit ...
Among them, 4 sites are to be discovered in the Gers. These are more particularly three sites and a section of the pilgrims' route, here they are:
The Sainte-Marie d'Auch cathedral
Whether you arrive in Auch from the east or the west, visitors' eyes are inevitably drawn to the cathedral which majestically dominates the city. A major UNESCO heritage site, it stands on the site of an old XNUMXth century Romanesque church.
Its construction lasted two hundred years (1489 - 1680), which explains the variety of styles: Flamboyant Gothic for the whole of the work, and Renaissance for the facade framed by 2 towers. Of surprising dimensions, It is one of the last Gothic cathedrals in France and one of the richest, like his oak choir, composed of high stalls and low stalls where more than 1500 characters are sculpted, representing an iconographic ensemble of incomparable richness.
La Cathedral can be visited freely all year round, or with a guide-lecturer from the Country of Art and History during a classic or fun visit...
The Collegiate Church of Romieu
The architectural ensemble of La Romieu is a magnificent example of patronage exercised by dignitaries of the papal court of Avignon and of which southern France was the main beneficiary.
The bridge of Artigues or Lartigues
UNESCO takes into account the multitude of components scattered on these legendary trails ... Whether prestigious like the Valentré bridge in Cahors, or more modest like this one situated between Larressingle and Beaumont-sur-L'osse, the bridges symbolized the passage in the pilgrimage, when the search for a pass in the Pyrenees or the crossing of a river became confused with a spiritual test.
The Lartigues bridge is one of the last Roman bridges built between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, one of the rare specimens of civil architecture still in existence, and built especially for the passage of pilgrims.
The section of path from Lectoure to Condom
It is among the 6 registered path sections of Midi-Pyrénées, all located on the Puy route (via Podensis) which enters the region at the level of Aubrac.
From Lectoure, the pilgrim stops at La Romieu, then heads from Lomagne to Ténarèze towards Condom. Most Beautiful Villages of France, Larressingle, one of the smallest fortified cities in France, is worth a detour ... The GR®65 in Ténarèze is a living cultural heritage.
And for you, some pictures on the Saint-Jacques roads around Auch and in the Gers ...
A taste of the paths…
* To be “fair” about the name of this highly recognized label, these sites are said to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list under the “Chemins de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle en France” property. .
