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Fanjeux market place
Eglise St. Maurice
MirepoixWhat is a bastide?
EVerywhere we drove around Ariege were road signs with the word 'Bastide'.
This puzzled me and I had to look it up out of curiosity.
Bastides are towns founded in the 13th century.
They were built as medieval new towns, and had various functions, including improving security and safety of the residents and promoting trade.
The bastide towns were usually built to a strict grid layout, with equal space allocated to each house. The grid centred on a square, which often contained a market hall and sheltered arcades around the edges. There was usually a church, often fortified, built adjacent to the main square.
Although not primarily fortified towns, the bastides often acquired fortifications later, especially during the Hundred Years War that raged in the region between the English and the French.
