Roquefixade

Roquefixade ( Occitan: Roca - Fissada ) is a small French village with 152 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Ariège in the Midi-Pyrénées region.

Location

Roquefixade is located about 100 km ( driving distance ) south of Toulouse and 80 kilometers south-west of Carcassonne. The next largest cities are Lavelanet ( 10 km west ), Foix (15 kilometers northwest ) and Mirepoix (29 kilometers north-east ).

History

Except for the fact that already in the year 1050, or shortly before a castle is mentioned, little is known about the early medieval history of the place. In the years 1209-1212 the castle of Roquefixade were and probably besieged and destroyed the village by the troops of Simon de Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade. Even at the behest of the late in 1285 the French king Philip III. , Who held control of the county Toulouse since 1271, brought about Simon de Teste breeze from the 1288 reconstruction of the place as Bastide under the name Bastide de Montfort.

Demographics

In the 19th century the town had about 700 inhabitants; in 1946 there were about 200

Economy

The small mountain village is off the most ways and lives of the livestock industry (milk and meat) and a little bit of tourism.

Attractions

Castle ruins Roquefixade

Other

• The site of Roquefixade with its large central square space corresponds to a bastide.
• On the large village square is a wash-house ( Lavoir ) from the 19th century.
• The Église Saint -Jean -Baptiste, a nave village church with bell tower, and contains within a beautiful Baroque altarpiece, the - was created around 1728 - after a foundation of the recently deceased local priest about 4000 livres. The gilding and painting of wooden figures and the total altar building was restored in the 1990s.