Sorèze - Saint-Martin

Sorèze is a nice, little sleepy town, with quaint houses and a population of about 2500. It has a very long history, as a monastery was founded at this (formerly swampy) place already in 754.

In a leaflet I picked up, I found out, that the abbey was founded by Pepin I of Aquitaine, what is hard to believe, as the son (and later archenemy) of Louis the Pious, was born about 4 decades later... Seen in the background is the tower of Saint-Martin, the former parish church. The church was destroyed during the Wars of Religion in 1573 - and all what is left is this "Tour St. Martin". When I reached the tourist office, I saw the australian guy, I had met in Castres: He was in a hurry, so I waved him a good-bye.