Photo : Angeline32 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
La Romieu
La Romieu, in the Gers, is a stage of the Via Podiensis, one of the Ways of Saint James of Compostela; the Lectoure-La Romieu-Condom stretch has been inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage since 1998. The collegiate church of Saint-Pierre was founded by Cardinal Arnaud d'Aux, born in the village: the deed dates from 30 July 1318 and the building was completed around 1320. In southern Gothic style with northern influences, it has been a listed historic monument since 1901, with its square cloister of four galleries.
The Cardinal d'Aux tower, octagonal and 168 steps high, is the only remnant of the cardinal's palace along with a stretch of the enclosure. The village also has the Fontaine wash-house, a former Roman site with its spring and a Gothic wash-house. The cat sculptures scattered around the square illustrate the legend of Angéline and her cats, a contemporary story born at the end of the twentieth century.
