Lagrasse

Lagrasse (pop. 550) is one of the "Plus Beaux Villages de France" ("The most beautiful villages of France").

The village developed around the famous abbey Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse. A convent existed in the valley of the River Orbieu already in the 7th century. In 779 Charlemagne sponsored the convent that became the Abbaye Sainte-Marie.

The parish church of the village was erected from ~ 1350 on in the specific "Gothique méridional", that is very common in the South of France. It was consecrated in 1398.