The Knights Templar The

The Knights Templar The Knights Templar was a military organisation of devout Christians founded in 1118. They originally formed with the aim of protecting pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land and in 1129, they were endorsed by Bernard of Clairvaux, a prominent French abbot who became a saint, Ten years later Pope Innocent II © TripUSAFrance gave the Templars special rights including exemption from paying taxes and only answering to the authority of the Pope. Members swore an oath of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The Templars became a wealthy and influential group with a network of banks which lent money to royal families and the aristocracy. They owned a sizeable fleet of ships and land, built numerous castles and became a powerful army. Almost 200 years after they began, the Templars were dissolved by Pope Clement V and some of their assets were passed to the Hospitalier Knights. Mystery surrounds the history of the Templars and continues to fascinate to this day. In the 18th century the Freemasons revived some of their symbols, rituals and traditions. Some believe that the Templars are still in existence and they were a key part of Dan Brown’s popular book The Da Vinci Code… https://tripusafrance.com/ 46 | The Good Life France

3 Must-sees in Aveyron Aveyron is a land that echoes with the past. Every densely wooded gorge and valley, every ancient bastide town and every winding road seems to whisper of the footsteps of pilgrims making their way south, of Romans and rebellious Gauls or of Knights Templars, thundering across the plateaux. It’s a place where you’ll find picture-postcard-pretty medieval villages, historic towns, rolling valleys and vast canyons where rivers roam and forests reach to the sky. Here you’ll find authentic markets, ancient churches clinging to rocky cliffs and divine cathedrals with soaring towers. There are ancient castles and museums galore, it’s a land that’s rich in natural beauty, as well as cultural and spiritual. We picked just 3 of the many must-sees in Aveyron: Conques This is a village with an inescapably spiritual feel, with its towering masterclass in Romanesque engineering and architecture (the Abbey of St. Foy) and the very tangible memory of the weary feet of pilgrims, shuffling along the well-worn streets. The village has a genuine sense of hushed reverence with its medieval walls, slate roof tops, forgotten gates, time worn 11th century fountains, narrow, cobbled streets and views that leave you in stunned and silent awe and contemplation. Read more about Conques Belcastel Conques Belcastel The village is well deserving of its “plus beaux villages de France” status because, yet again, here is a place in the Aveyron that is shockingly beautiful, with the gentle tumble of water from the River Aveyron in the background and its steep, cobbled streets leading up to the castle. If you’ve got the time, have lunch at the Vieux Pont (a Michelin star restaurant in the village) and then walk off your indulgences with the climb (and it really is a climb) up to the castle. Rodez Rodez which is certified as a “grand site Midi Pyrénées and “pays d’art et d’histoire” is a city which, like so many in France really seems to enjoy mixing the old and the new whether that’s in terms of art, architecture, gastronomy or culture. A small city which clings to the last of the mountains of the Massif Central and dozes quietly 600 metres above sea level. It was originally two cities and is ever so slightly disjointed, with two city squares and a heady combination of gothic and renaissance architecture, hand in hand with the ultramodern Musée Soulages. Read more about Belcastel and Rodez. The Good Life France | 47