The fortified town of la couvertoirade, one of france's most beautiful villages

Whichever small road you take to cross the vast, deserted causse du Larzac, once you reach the foot of the remparts de la Couvertoirade you feel very small indeed. The wall is 12 meters high and over 400 meters long!

The village is extremely well preserved and conserved because it was abandoned for a long time and therefore underwent little or no transformation. To visit la Couvertoirade is to plunge back into the Middle Ages!

Situated on the Larzac plateau, the village of La Couvertoirade is a concentrate of traditional Caussenarde architecture. Stone is the material found everywhere, from the ground to the roofs of the houses, known as lauzes.

Pass the virtually intact 15th-century ramparts that protect the 800-year-old town and discover:

• Traditional Caussenarde houses
• The communal oven, abandoned since the 1950s and probably built in the 14th century. It has been restored by a local resident and is regularly used to bake bread and other delicious pastries over a wood fire.
• Church of St Christophe XII th – XIII th century, built on a rectangular plan partly in the rock. In the 15th century, its tower was rebuilt with the ramparts and became a defensive tower integrated into the ramparts
• Templar Castle (private) late 12th/early 13th century; listed as a historic monument in 1944, it is one of the few castles built by the Templars at this time in France. It features a Romanesque keep, unique in Larzac for its unusual shape!
• The Couvertoirade lavogne is oval, not round like the others in the area. But what is a lavogne? It’s a man-made pond that collects rainwater and is used to water sheep.
• The gift of water: a sink built into the ramparts and fed by a cistern, allowing pilgrims or travelers to be given water in times of war without the risk of opening the village gates.
• Moulin à vent de Redounel a retrouvé ses ailes