Figeac - St.Thomas des Carmes

A monastery existed in Figeac since 828. It got looted and destroyed by the Vikings in 861.

Tensions between the main merchant families and the abbot led to the dependence of Philipp IV. ("Philippe IV le Bel"). Figeac got privileges and the town got wealthy so the citizens got to invest in fortifications.

This did not help much, when Bernardon de la Salle (in the service of the English) conquered Figeac in 1371 but gave it up the following year on payment of compensation.

During the Wars of Religion conquered Figeac in 1576, when Calvinists inside the city opened the doors to the outside. Protestant armies captured the city, massacred and burned part of it.

The church, dedicated to St. Thomas Becket, is one of the remaining structure of a former monastery of the Carmelites that existed already in 1265.

The Protestants destroyed most of the monastery in 1576, but after the capture of the city by the Catholics in 1622, the buildings were restored.

The monastery was abandoned after the Revolution, except for the chapel, which became the parish church. The facade dates from the 19th century when the church got restored.

The baptismal font is mounted on a Romanesque capital.

Figeac is of course best known for Jean-François Champollion, who was born here. The linguist achieved world fame with the translation of the Rosetta Stone and the related decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics.