Rabastens - Notre-Dame du Bourg

The remains of a Gallo-Roman settlement were discovered as early as 1840. This settlement was replaced by the Visigoths. Their fortifications here controlled the route from Toulouse to Lyon, as there was a ford to cross the river.

At the end of the 12th century, the beginning of the 13th century, the town was a stronghold of the Cathars. During the Albigensian Crusade, Rabastens was loyal to Raymond VII of Toulouse, who lost - and so the town had to demolish its walls in 1229.

As in Castelsarrasin, the "shepherds" (Crusade of the Shepherds, Croisade des pastoureaux) attacked the Jewish communities. In 1337, during the Hundred Years War, the troops of Gaston Febus, Count of Foix and Béarn, massacred more than a thousand men inside the city walls.

The Notre-Dame du Bourg church was built between 1230 and 1260 on the initiative of the Benedictine monks of Moissac, who were present at the priory in the 12th century. It has a large, rectangular, single-nave nave and is made entirely of brick modeled on the Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Toulouse. In the 14th century, Prior Bernard Latour decided to add a polygonal chancel to the nave.

In July 2022 the church was under renovation and closed.

Late romanesque capitals of Notre-Dame du Bourg (ssen from outside)

Top row:
Annunciation - Visitation - Nativity - Adoration of the Magi

Bottom row:
Presentation at the Temple - Massacre of the Innocents - Flight into Egypt - ???