Layrac, le Gers comme fil d'Ariane

Discover the medieval streets before getting lost on the steep hillsides from where you will see the Gers valley, the Garonne plain and perhaps by chance the Pyrenees.
This village with a rich heritage was an important medieval town thanks to its inland waterways on the Gers and the Garonne. First door of Gascony, its history was marked by the arrival of illustrious guests. Pope Urban II went there in May 1096 and consecrated the heart of the Church of Saint-Martin, today classified as a Historic Monument. Archbishop Bertrand de Goth, future Pope Clement V, stayed there in the 14th century. Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, stopped here on 15 January 1572 on her way to Paris for the wedding of her son, King Henry IV of France; the latter came in his turn on 16 August 1576, at a time when the Layracaise city was a stronghold of Protestantism in Agenais.