La Toscane lisloise

Plains and hillsides, vineyards, umbrella pines and cypresses transform the medieval bastide town of Lisle-sur-Tarn into a city of Occitan Tuscany in the summer light and heat. Discover the history of this part of the Tarn by exploring its landscape.

Lisle-sur-Tarn is the only bastide town on the plains of the Tarn with its own port. Trade (cereals, woad, wine, etc.) and cultural exchanges made possible by river traffic enriched the town until the 18th century. The arrival of the railway signalled the end of the gabares' reign.
Lisle is also one of the most typical bastides in the south-west of France, with its chequered ilos, ‘les moulons’, its central square, ‘la carra’ with its covered walkways and the ‘pountets’, a covered passageway at high level allowing streets to be watched and safe passage from one ilot to another.
Like all the towns and villages in the Tarn valley, the houses here are built in brick (ochre for unbaked brick, red for fired brick).