| Circular villages.
In medieval times villages of this region were often
situated on hilltops and built in a circular fashion
for defensive purposes. Many examples can be found in
the Razès.
They are now called circulades. You can see
numerous of examples of Circulades in the Languedoc-Roussillon
by clicking on the following link to a page dedicated
to Circulades
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People have been building fortified hilltop settlements here since prehistoric times. They are called oppida and you can visit a spectacular example, the Oppidum de Enserune, near to the modern village of Nissan-lez-Enserune in the Hérault département.
Bastides. The word bastide covers two types of settlement. The first is the small defensive hill-top hamlet or village, possibly but not necessarily a circulade. The second is a sort of medieval planned settlement, typically laid out on a grid pattern, rather like many modern purpose-built cities. (Indeed the idea of laying cities out like this came from medieval bastides). A good example of this grid-like bastide, the Bastide of St-Louis,can be seen at the heart of the new city of Carcassonne.
Les
Plus Beaux Villages de France. literally the most beautiful
villages in France. To qualify even for consideration the
village must have no more than 2000 inhabitants and possess
at least two sites classified as of historic interested
("Listed" in UK speak). The following villages
in the Languedoc have been granted the accolade:
Back to: Towns in the Languedoc
