On the D39 road from la Fouillarde one is suddenly confronted with this view over the serpentine Aveyron valley. The village of Najac is situated on a conical hill in a bend of the Aveyron river. Its photogenic castle, which has graced many a travel poster, has sat firmly on the peak of the hill for nearly eight centuries...

 

 

...while the half-timbered and stone-tiled village houses tail out in a single street along the narrow back of the spur that joins the hill to the floor of the valley. The church dedicated to St Jean (St John) is seen to the left below the castle.

 

 

The castle is an excellent example of medieval defence architecture which was endlessly fought over because of its commanding and impregnable position in a region once rich in silver and copper mines. Gaining possession of Najac would have meant gaining the key to the entire region.

 

A view of the castle from the main street (Rue du Barriou) of Najac

The castle was built in 1253 by Alphonse of Poitiers, brother of Saint-Louis, King of France, on the site of an earlier fortress, which had been built in 1100 by Bertrand of Saint-Gilles, son of Raymond IV and Count of Toulouse. The fortified village nestled at the foot of the castle which stood tall, defending the valley. The fusion of the two castles resulted in a masterpiece of thirteenth century military architecture. Seven metre high arrow loupes, unique in the world, enabled three archers to fire arrows at once at the enemy below.

 

 

For centuries, probably from Roman times, people have occupied the area which now forms the present market town of 750 inhabitants. The fortified part of the town dates back to the thirteenth century and is dominated by the narrow main street which gradually widens before opening up into the large town square. Najac is a stop-off point on the way from Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, and with its own administrative, economic, political and military centre, is often called the "capital of Rouergue".

 

A view over a small Najac vineyard towards the Aveyron valley and river.

The village has been involved during many significant events of French history: the first English occupation, the battle against the Albigenses, the Hundred Years War, the imprisonment of the Knights Templar, the Peasants Revolt and the French Revolution.

 

The Governor's Castle - vestiges of the guard houses,
with an old house door, can be seen in the foreground.

 

Many of the houses of the old village are in a state of disrepair but over recent years a number of the old, uninhabitable buildings have been purchased by people from nearby French towns as well as those from further afield in France and in the UK and Europe. Extensive renovation of these buildings is being done, or has been completed, in several parts of the old area of the village.

 

The Church of St-Jean l'Evangeliste which
the villagers of Najac were forced by the
Inquisition to build at their own expense in
1258 as a punishment for their conversion
to Catharism.

The Fontain Monolith des Consuls dates from 1344. Carved upon
it are various coats of arms of the consuls and local bishops.

The faubourg (village square) has houses raised on pillars
on its perimeter as in a typical central square of a 'bastide'
(a fortified town or village dating from the 13th and 14th century).

Najac - capital of Rouergue - has been granted the title "Pays d'art et d'histoire" (Region of Art and History) by the National Treasury of Historic Monuments.