Gaillac - Saint-Michel

The town's origins date back to the 10th century when the Benedictine Abbey of St Michel was founded on the banks of the Tarn. Located on the Way of St. James, the abbey existed until the French Revolution.

The city itself benefited from its favorable location: the trade route from the Rouergue to Toulouse crossed the navigable Tarn here, which in turn formed the most important trade route to Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast. Viticulture and the cultivation of woad also contributed to the prosperity of Gaillac.

The Hundred Years' War and then the Black Death epidemic ruined Gaillac: it lost half its population and the wine trade ceased. These disasters were not the last, however, because between 1562 and 1572, during the Wars of Religion, the city saw repeated fighting between Catholics and Protestants. The Catholics were chased out of the town by Protestants. After their return and the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre on 24 August 1572, in Paris, the Catholic Gaillacois massacred 74 out of the 90 Huguenots in the town.
Gaillac is mainly known for its wine "Gaillac AOC". The region makes claims to be among the earliest viticultural centers of ancient Gaul, though possibly after those of Languedoc around Narbonne. Roman merchants transported wine to Bordeaux and Northern Europe down the Tarn.

The Abbey of Saint-Michel was founded in 972 when the Bishop of Albi entrusted a domain to the Benedictine order to found an abbey there. The abbey was built on the banks of the Tarn on a site once occupied by a Gallo-Roman villa. Viticulture was "restarted" where the Romans already had significant agricultural development. A port was built which allowed the wine to be exported to Bordeaux.

The church was built as an abbey church.

From the 12th century, Gaillac had become an important town and was seeing an influx of new residents. So the monks partially converted their church into a parish church and kept the choir for themselves.
After the religious wars ended, the building was restored over the next two centuries. During the French Revolution, the church was plundered, then confiscated and used as a warehouse and saltpeter factory. New repairs were made during the restoration, during which the nave adopted a neoclassical style, which lasted until 1849 when a neo-Romanesque portal was added to the west.