La Couvertoirade

The Templars held large estates on the Larzac from the twelfth century, running sheep on the poor limestone plateau to fund their operations in the east, and they built a castle and church here. After the order was suppressed in 1312 the Hospitallers took over and added the walls in the fifteenth century, which survive almost complete with two gates and round towers. Inside, the houses are dry limestone with outside stairs, and the buildings around show how the plateau worked: a lavogne, a paved pond that collected rain for sheep, since there is no surface water on the causse.

History

The fortified village belonged from the 12th century to the Knights Templar, under their commandery of Sainte-Eulalie, who built its castle during the 12th and 13th centuries; its two upper floors have since been removed. After the Templars were dissolved in 1312 their lands on the causses passed to the Knights of St John, who built the curtain wall between 1439 and 1450. Like other villages of the Larzac it lost people quickly in the 19th century, down to 362 by 1880, and today it is home mainly to craftspeople working in enamel, pottery and weaving (Wikipedia, La Couvertoirade).

What's there

• The complete walls - a fifteenth-century Hospitaller circuit with towers.
• The Templar church and castle - the order's original buildings.
• The lavogne - a paved rainwater pond for sheep on a waterless plateau.
• The causse setting - bare limestone grazing land in every direction.

When to go

April to October; the plateau is windswept and cold in winter with much closed. Summer is hot with no shade. The site is small and seen in an hour or two.

What to expect

It is tiny and heavily given to craft shops in season. The plateau has no shelter from sun or wind. The village empties completely out of season.

Nearby

Roquefort lies northwest; Millau is north.

Key facts