A grid plan, an arcaded market square, a wooden hall: the bastides of South-West France are medieval new towns of surprising modernity. Here is the guide to understanding and visiting them.
Picture a square lined with stone arcades, a wooden market hall at its centre, streets laid out with a ruler and, all around, medieval houses almost intact. The bastides of South-West France are new towns founded in the Middle Ages, mainly in the 13th and 14th centuries, from the Périgord to Gascony. Their regular town planning, strikingly modern, makes them unique places. From Monpazier to Monflanquin, here is our guide to understanding and exploring these medieval gems.
What is a bastide?
A bastide is a new town created from scratch, on virgin land, according to a plan designed in advance. Between roughly 1220 and 1370, several hundred of them rose across the South-West: Périgord, Quercy, Agenais, Gascony. Unlike villages that grew gradually around a castle or a church, the bastide is planned: first the square and streets are laid out, then settlers are allotted plots of equal size. It is one of the great urban adventures of the European Middle Ages.
Town planning ahead of its time
Bastides share traits recognisable among all of them:
- A grid plan (or chequerboard), with straight streets crossing at right angles
- A central arcaded square, lined with arcade galleries sheltering the market
- A hall of wood or stone, at the heart of the square, sometimes with its old grain measures
- A church often built slightly off the main square, sometimes fortified
- Narrow alleys (andrones) between the houses, to limit the spread of fire
Why so many new towns?
The flowering of the bastides met several needs. Economic first: each new town created a market, a source of taxes and wealth for its founder. Demographic next: after the crusade against the Albigensians, the land had to be repopulated and developed. Political finally: on the borders disputed between the King of France and the King of England, Duke of Aquitaine, founding a bastide meant marking and holding a territory. To attract settlers, they were offered a charter of liberties guaranteeing rights, sometimes free wood and stone for a year — provided they built their house quickly.
Monpazier, the model bastide
Founded in 1284 in the name of King Edward I of England, Monpazier (in the Dordogne) is the best-preserved and most harmonious bastide in France. Its plan, perfectly regular, fits within a rectangle of about 400 by 220 metres; in the 19th century, Viollet-le-Duc took it as the theoretical model of bastides. More than thirty of its buildings are listed, and it is said you can take photographs there without any house being less than four centuries old. Listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France, Monpazier remains an open-air history book.
Under the arcades: the heart of the bastide
The arcaded square is the soul of the bastide. Under its arcades sheltered — and still shelter — the market stalls, shaded in summer, dry on rainy days. In Monpazier, the market has been held there every Thursday morning for more than seven centuries. The central hall kept the official grain measures, guaranteeing honest trade and the collection of taxes. Nearby, but slightly set apart as often in bastides, the church of Saint-Dominique raises its bell tower: the square is entered at its corners, so as not to hinder fairs and markets.
Other bastides to discover
Monpazier is not alone. Perched on its hill, Monflanquin unfolds its fine Place des Arcades and houses a museum of the bastides. Villeréal, Beaumont-du-Périgord and Domme — the latter clinging to a cliff above the Dordogne — are among the most charming. Further east, Montauban and its Place Nationale with double rows of arcades, or Mirepoix with its half-timbered houses, show the full variety of new towns. Each has its character, but all share the same taste for order and the covered square.
On the bastide trail
The bastides cluster in the Périgord, the Lot-et-Garonne, the Gers and the Quercy: a land of hills, markets and gastronomy. They are best discovered by car, linking two or three villages in a day, ideally on a market day. Stop under the arcades for a coffee, taste the local produce, wander the lanes: most bastides can be visited freely and on foot. Monpazier, Sarlat or Bergerac make excellent bases.
To go further
The bastides belong to a South-West rich in heritage:
- Our guide to the Périgord and the Dordogne
- The most beautiful villages of France, several of them bastides
- The guide to Occitanie for Montauban and Mirepoix
- The guide to Nouvelle-Aquitaine for the Lot-et-Garonne
In short
New towns with a grid plan, brought to life by their arcaded square, the bastides of South-West France offer a unique journey into the heart of the Middle Ages. To plan your route, browse our directory of regions, explore the cities to visit and pin your stops on the interactive map.
