Knights Templar fortified village of La Couvertoirade, France

A relatively short drive (30 minutes, 38kms) from the Millau Viaduct bridge, by Norman Foster - the tallest bridge in the world (37 meters shorter than the Empire State Building), by taking exit 48 (signposted to Le Vigan, Cornus, Alzon), one reaches the Knights Templar Castle and fortified village of La Courvertoirade - one of the most beautiful villages in France, that was built in the 12th and 13th centuries.

La Couvertoirade was at an important site in the Templar organization and Larzac, with its fields creating cereal and grain on the plateau, constituted one of its most important properties, known as "la plaine du temple" (the temple plain). The castle was built in 1249 by the Templars and for seven centuries La Couvertoirade would shelter the Knight Templars and later the Hospitaliers, who took over Templar property after 1312.

This mediaeval village reflects the military power of the Templar Knights and the daily activity
of the Hospitaliers (Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem), through its exceptional state of conservation. Classed as a Most Beautiful French Village, La Couvertoirade constitutes a veritable “miniature” of the mediaeval city. Few mediaeval sites in France are as well preserved.

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