Najac and Varen: The Castle on the Ridge and the Romanesque Priory
Occitanie, France
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Aveyron Gorges Voyager
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275
XP
+100 France
= 375 total
2 days
Najac and Varen: The Castle on the Ridge and the Romanesque Priory
275 + 100 XP
Najac is a village strung along a ridge above a loop of the Aveyron, below the fortress Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Saint Louis, began rebuilding in 1255 as a royal stronghold. Downstream, Varen grew round a deanery whose church of Saint-Pierre was vaulted about 1050 on a grand scale, in the expectation of a great pilgrimage.
Required Activities
1
of 3
Walk the ridge of Najac, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, past the church of Saint-Jean that the Inquisition made the villagers pay for out of confiscated goods, up to the fortress Alphonse de Poitiers began in 1255 and where the Templars of the Rouergue were locked up in 1307; at the wall, pick out where the dark local stone of the base gives way to the paler stone ferried across the river for the upper castle
2
of 3
Walk down to the pont Saint-Blaise, begun in 1260 as the first bridge on the Aveyron between Najac and Saint-Antonin, cross it and look back up the whole length of the ridge to the fortress on top
3
of 3
At Varen, walk round the outside of the 11th-century church of Saint-Pierre and work out how its west front served as a stretch of the town wall, find where the portal was bricked up and the apse pulled down about 1350 because they were the weak points, and go on to the fortified gate and the 11th-century deanery beside it
Walk the ridge of Najac, one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, past the church of Saint-Jean that the Inquisition made the villagers pay for out of confiscated goods, up to the fortress Alphonse de Poitiers began in 1255 and where the Templars of the Rouergue were locked up in 1307; at the wall, pick out where the dark local stone of the base gives way to the paler stone ferried across the river for the upper castle
Walk down to the pont Saint-Blaise, begun in 1260 as the first bridge on the Aveyron between Najac and Saint-Antonin, cross it and look back up the whole length of the ridge to the fortress on top
At Varen, walk round the outside of the 11th-century church of Saint-Pierre and work out how its west front served as a stretch of the town wall, find where the portal was bricked up and the apse pulled down about 1350 because they were the weak points, and go on to the fortified gate and the 11th-century deanery beside it
Before you go
Najac is one long street on a ridge with the fortress at the top and the river far below: it is a steep walk up and down whichever end you park at, on cobbles. In August the village holds the Fête de la Saint-Barthélemy et de la fouace, when two two-metre fouaces are carried through the streets, and parking is very tight.
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About Occitanie
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
275 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
375 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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