Bruniquel

Bruniquel is a southern French village with 620 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Tarn -et- Garonne in the Midi-Pyrénées region. Bruniquel is classified as one of the plus beaux villages de France ( " Most Beautiful Villages of France" ).

Location

Bruniquel situated on a hill on the left bank of the Aveyron, at the mouth of its tributary Vère. The town of Montauban is located about 28 kilometers to the west; the wine village of Gaillac about 35 kilometers southeast. The also among the " Most Beautiful Villages of France" belonging places Puycelsi and Castelnau -de- Montmiral are twelve and 23 kilometers southeast.

Demographics

In the 19th century the place had resistant 1500-1850 inhabitants. The phylloxera crisis in the wine and the mechanization of agriculture led to a loss of jobs and, consequently, to a steady decline in the population.

Economy

Today The community lives primarily from agriculture and forestry as well as by craft and by small businesses. Since the 1960s, tourism also plays a role in the form of the rental of apartments.

History

Bruniquel is a medieval village in the Quercy, whose castles ( the elder and the younger ) the Aveyron overtop. At the foot of the castles are the prehistoric rock shelters ( abris ), slightly removed numerous other archaeological sites. In the Middle Ages, the town experienced a major boom due to its location on the Camino.

Attractions

• Worth seeing is mainly the townscape of Bruniquel: The majority of houses dating from the 14th to the 16th centuries; most are made of unhewn stone ( rubble), but some also filled with bricks made ​​of plastered or timber. The winding roads have partly still their old paving.
• According to tradition, the older castle said to have been founded in the 6th century of the Merovingian queen Brunechildis. The Château vieux still has its donjon of the 12th century (at that time the village belonged to the County of Toulouse) and living quarters of the 13th century. In addition, there is a Renaissance gallery, other parts were redesigned in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Château jeune with its Renaissance portico with six arcades overlooking the valley of the Aveyron by more than 80 meters. It dates from the period 1485-1510 and was rebuilt in Baroque. The ensemble is recognized as a monument historique since 1840.
• The Grotto of Bruniquel has traces of human use from the time 50,000 years ago.

Others

The Castles of Bruniquel served in 1975 as a backdrop for the award-winning film The old gun by Robert Enrico with Romy Schneider and Philippe Noiret.