Is Saint-Guilhem really one of the most beautiful villages in France?

Why this article will serve you

You like to visit medieval villages. You have already visited many.

In France, Italy, Spain. And elsewhere.

So much so that you forgot some of them.

Because you just didn't hang on the day you got there.

Can this happen to you in Saint-Guilhem?

I take the bet that no! This article will convince you.

Why is this village dear to me?

I discovered this village when I was a student, in the XNUMXth century. During my tourism studies in Montpellier, to become a guide, my classmates and I had to prepare for a visit to this village.

I then scoured libraries and bookstores looking for information and anecdotes that might captivate my audience one day.

Without ever coming to the village. I didn't have a car. I don't even know if there was a bus at that time between Montpellier and Saint-Guilhem.

The big day arrived. I was feverish. But it was a success. My teachers were won over. I had found my way.

In my memory, this is where I guided for the first time. It marked me a lot.

Saint-Guilhem is first and foremost a site.

To get to Saint-Guilhem, you have to walk along a river, the Herault.

This is where a small stream, the Verdus, ends its course in the Herault that Guilhem, Count of Toulouse, founded an abbey a long time ago, in 804.

The Verdus was once much more impressive; it was he who dug the valley, where the village and its abbey are located, across the mountain that surrounds it today.

Saint-Guilhem is then a village.

A main artery leads from the river to the abbey. Along this street, a set of beautiful restored facades, made of limestone which takes on a golden hue in the sun.

A few local craft shops, in season, attract visitors. Let's take the time to stroll. No rush.

You have to move away a bit to enjoy magnificent views of the village. Follow me, I know where to go to enchant your eyes.

Here we are. So ? Yep, you can tell, the view is great.

Saint-Guilhem is finally an abbey

By the way, why Saint-Guilhem-LE-Desert ?

The Desert, this is how we qualified in the Middle Ages the uninhabited places in which a religious (our famous Guilhem as far as we are concerned here) decided to withdraw.

Listen the silence of the church. Raise your eyes, look at the Roman vaults. Simplicity. Grandiose.

Do not leave the abbey church without finding the relic of the True Cross. It was she who made the success of the monastery by attracting donations from the faithful and other pilgrims on their way to Compostela.

How lucky, here the cloister is (in part) preserved. Walk around it, and there too, look up. Here are the remains of the Giant's castle overlooking you.