Monpazier

Edward I of England, as duke of Aquitaine, founded Monpazier in 1284, and it survives as the clearest example of what a bastide was meant to be: a rectangle of about four hundred by two hundred and twenty metres divided by straight streets into equal blocks, with a central arcaded square, a covered market hall on stone pillars, a church on one side and narrow gaps called andrones left between houses as firebreaks and drains. The plots were laid out to a standard size and let to settlers. Old grain measures, carved stone hollows, still stand under the market hall roof.

History

Monpazier is a 13th-century bastide founded by Edward I of England, who was also Duke of Gascony, by an act of paréage: the lord of Biron gave the land, Edward the authority, and the profits from taxes and trade were shared between them. Like other bastides it was laid out on a grid around a central square with an open market hall at one end, and it is one of the best preserved, keeping many original features; from 1790 to 2015 it was the seat of its canton (Wikipedia, Monpazier).

The main sights

• The grid plan - a rectangular bastide layout intact after seven centuries.
• The arcaded square - covered walkways around the central place.
• The market hall - a timber roof on stone pillars with old grain measures.
• The andrones - narrow gaps left between houses as firebreaks.

When to go

April to October; the Thursday market fills the square. The town is quieter than the Dordogne valley villages. Autumn is a good time for the surrounding countryside.

Practical notes

It is small and seen in an hour. There is little beyond the square and church. Facilities close for long lunches and out of season.

Nearby

Biron castle lies south; Bergerac is northwest.

Key facts