Mirepoix

Devastated in 1289 when a dam on the Hers burst, the old county town of Mirepoix, in the Ariège, was rebuilt on a bastide plan on a safer terrace. Its main square, lined with wooden arcades supporting richly carved half-timbered houses, is one of the best preserved in the region.

One of the arcaded houses, the 'Maison des Consuls', is famous for its 13th-century beams carved with grotesque figures. The Cathedral of Saint-Maurice, whose nave has one of the widest Gothic vaults in France, overlooks the square from its porch tower. A well-known market still enlivens this bastide every Monday.

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