La romieu

La Romieu, the small municipality(Commune) of the canton of Condom, is situated in the North of the department of the Gers, on the Roads of Santiago de Compostela.

opulation center since the prehistory, occupied to the Roman area, marked by the Merovingian presence, Romieu knew its peak in the Middle Ages grace to Arnaud d' Aux, prelate of the church of Avignon which decided to establish its grave there (ensemble collegial St Pierre), masterpiece of the architecture méridionnale, classified in the World heritage of the humanity by the UNESCO since 1998.

Around these multisecular heritage, a village alive and livened up all year round will indulge to welcome you for a simple visit, one day or more, with its shops, its accommodations, its Tourist office **, trails of hike or MOUNTAIN BIKE, Gardens of Coursiana.

A natural stage on the Roads of Santiago de Compostela for a dive in the heart of the history(story) and the legends (legend of cats).

The collégiate Church Saint-Pierre of La Romieu (the cloister, the towers) is today classified as World heritage of the Humanity by the UNECO and "Historic Monument". Its luxurious convent, its church with unique nave, and its two towers constitute an major jewel of the heritage gersois today. One of both towers contains moreover a treasure of architecture: a staircase with double revolution. It is opened to the visit all year long.

• On the municipality,you can also find a big private botanical park opened to the visit: the Gardens of Coursiana. This park is endowed with four gardens: an arboretum of 700 essences, one landscape gardens, a garden of healing, aromatic plants and in perfume and a kitchen garden.
• Finally the village also conceals numerous marvels. its square with arches, the Gothic fountain and its washhouse, of numerous churches today private propriétées, and the vestiges of the palace of the cardinal which are living houses today. Village was strengthened, it stays of very numerous tracks of its ancient configuration today (door the North, contraforts)

La Romieu is a city European stage on the Roads of Santiago de Compostela. In 1998, the Road Lectoure, The Romieu, Condom, is 33 km was classified in the world heritage of the humanity by the UNESCO. The road of Rocamadour (GR 652) and the road of Puy-en-Velay (GR 65) joins in Romieu.

Crédit photo : Jean-Luc Boissonnet-Thirouard (Oxxo), license CC-BY-SA-3.0

Created in 1974 by Gilbert Cours -Darne, an eminent French botanist (he was awarded the Olivier de Serres prize, the highest distinction bestowed by the Academie d’Agriculture), the arboretum occupies 6 hectares and contains 700 different species of trees and shrubs. Situaded by the road to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle with a view of the St Pierre de La Romieu collegiale, the Coursiana Gardens offer you an enjoyable experience in a wholly beautiful environment. Veronique and Arnaud Delannoy, the owners of the arboretum, as a result of their painstaking work received the national Edouard d’Avdeew's prize, awarded by the Association des Parcs Botaniques de France. In 2001, a partnership has been conduced with Fleurance Nature to create a medicinal and aromatic plants garden, which opened in spring 2002.

A convenient climate, hilly and shaded paths, marked out and maintained circuits, so many good reasons to devote to the enjoyments of her(it) gone hiking in our region.
If you are an amateur of hike, not less than 8 buckles around Romieu wait for you and more than 300 km of circuits marked out around.

If you are amateurs of MOUNTAIN BIKE, about 3 loop circuits 35 km around the village will make your enjoyment, without speaking about connections with the circuits of Lectoure. 100 km circuit in Lomagne Gersoise.

• Code of the Walker

 Know, likes and respects nature and rural world Listens to the nature,
no shouts nor of transistors do not soil the nature: it is not a garbage can,
takes away(gains) your waste do not break branches,
respects the young plants Admire flowers and wild plants, does not pick them
Observe animals but do not disturb them
Do not frighten the herds, closes the doors of fence(close)
Attention on the fire(light), on the cigarette or on the badly put out(switched off) match
Rest on the path: do not stamp either under wood, or cultures In mountain:
do not throw(cast) nor make roll pebbles or rocks

good and merry hike(ride)

1 day of path = 8 days of health

In the year of our Lord 1338, in a Gascon village called LA ROMIEU, renowned for its beautiful collegiate built 20 years previously, Vincent and Mariette lived contentedly. He was a woodman and his wife often accompanied him into the forest to make up bundles of faggots. They worked hard, and with their poultry and pig, their fruit and vegetable garden, their table was always laid full with food. They had been married for 3 years when Mariette gave birth to alittle girl, whom they called Angeline.

Alas, one day Vincent was crushed by a tree he was felling. Inconsolable, Mariette sank into a depressionand 2 months later was found dead, holding little Angeline in her arms. The little girl was taken in by a neigbour and was brought up with their children like one of their own. Angeline showed a great affection for cats and theire was always one or two around her which at night even slept in her bed. She also often shared her bowl with them.

With the passing of time, Angeline became a healthy young girl who helped her adoptive parents in fields, always accompanied by her cats.

In 1342 and 2 years that followed, the winters were harsh and the spring and summer so wet that it was impossible to sow their crops. There followed a great famine and inspite of the distribution of the collegiate reserves by the lord Arnaud d'Aux, the inhabitants soon had nothing to eat. They thought of the numerous cats in the village and set about catching them.

Angeline's parents, knowing how much she loved hers, allowed her to keep a male and female cat on the condition she hid them well, as the neighbours would gladly kill them. Angeline, therefore, shut her two cats in the attic by day and at nignt she let them out to hunt. But the famine grew worse and many villagers died. Angeline and her parents berely subsisted by collecting roots in the woods and sometimes they found mushrooms but it was hardly sufficient. Weakened by hunger, they managed somehow to survive this terrible period and more clement times finally arrived, allowing them to harvest what they needed to live.

But in LAa Romieu where the cats had disappeared, the rats proliferated to a point where the crops were once again threatened. Angeline, with infinite caution, had been able to hide her cats in the attic and they had produced severalprogeny. There were now about 20 of these cats.

The villagers wrung their hands over the damage caused by the rats. Angeline announced that she was going to release some 20 cats which the inhabitants would be able to adopt.
The rats rapidly disappeared and it is thus that Angeline ressembled more and more, with the passing of time, that of one of the cats and that her ears transformed into the ears of a cat.

It was from listening to a grandmother telling this story of Angeline's cats to her grandchildren that a scluptor from ORLÉANS, Maurice SERREAU, had the idea of reviving the legend by placing sculptures of cats all around the square in LA ROMIEU.