Rodez

Rodez stands on a hill above a loop of the Aveyron, and its cathedral of Notre-Dame is built in local pink sandstone with a bell tower of eighty-seven metres and a west front that is essentially a defensive wall, since it formed part of the town's ramparts. Pierre Soulages was born here in 1919 and spent his career on outrenoir, work in which black is applied thickly and scored so that reflected light rather than colour carries the painting; he gave a large body of work to the town, and the Musee Soulages opened in 2014 in a set of rust-steel boxes designed by RCR Arquitectes. He also designed the Conques windows.

History

Rodez was founded by the Celtic Ruteni by at least the 5th century BC as the oppidum of Segodunum, renamed Civitas Rutenorum in late Roman times, from which comes its modern name; Saint Amans brought Christianity, and after Rome the town was held by Visigoths, Franks, the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Counts of Toulouse, raided by Arabs in 725, and occupied by the English in the Hundred Years' War. For centuries the city was split by a wall between the counts, who held the town outside, and the bishops, who held the city within, each with its own consuls and town hall; the counts, of the house of Armagnac, minted coins and defied the crown until John IV submitted to the future Louis XI in the 15th century, and in the following century Bishop François d'Estaing built the cathedral. The last count of Rodez, who became Henry IV, sold the title to the crown in 1589, and at the Revolution Rodez became the capital of the new department of Aveyron (Wikipedia, Rodez).

What to look for

• The pink cathedral - sandstone Gothic with a fortified west front.
• The Musee Soulages - outrenoir paintings in rust-steel galleries.
• The Conques studies - preparatory work for the abbey windows.
• The old town - lanes and bishop's palace around the cathedral.

When to go

April to October; the museum closes Mondays and holds temporary exhibitions that change the visit. The cathedral is open daily and free.

What to expect

Soulages divides opinion sharply; large black canvases are not to everyone's taste and the museum makes no concessions. The town is small and quiet. Parking near the cathedral is limited.

Nearby

Conques lies northwest; Belcastel is west.