La Chadenède, The Monks

4 points of interest

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  History

  Montbrun: a perched village

  Many villages showcase the conditions that led to their establishment. For Montbrun, it was the defensive value of the site. But was that really the only reason? In a gorge, where cultivatable land is often in short supply, building the village on a rock allowed villagers to save on precious farmland. While the slopes of the Causses are green today, in the 18th and 19th centuries they were stripped relatively bare. The small villages were true oases. Human hands have shaped, laid out and designed this landscape. They have optimised the space, cultivating the tiniest patch of land right up to the feet of the Cause cliffs.

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  Agriculture

  A recovery farm

  Unlike the Causses plateaux, the Tarn valley experienced strong agricultural decline. To revitalise the area, the municipality of Montbrun launched a recovery farm in 2008. The most time-consuming aspect was bringing together the different owners’ parcels by creating a pastureland association. In 2010 a couple arrived to run the organic market garden and livestock farm… It’s almost a return to the days when the flood plain was cultivated by the inhabitants of Montbrun. Don’t miss the small farmers’ market every Sunday morning in July and August.

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  Architecture

  The Château de Charbonnières

  In a bend of the Tarn downstream from the village of Montbrun stands the Château de Charbonnières. While the former castel has lost some of its defensive elements, it has nevertheless preserved a knightly characterand traces of many historical episodes of the Tarn valley. It is first recorded in the 13th century. Its defensive role was tightly linked to a whole “fortified system” downstream of Ispagnac, which consisted of Quézac, Javillet, La Roche, Rocheblave, Montbrun, Castelbouc, Prades and Sainte-Enimie.
  
  The château has three rectangular //buildings arranged in a horseshoe shape around an internal courtyard. The facade overlooking the Tarn has a square tower that dominates the river. Access to the internal courtyard is via gates under a semi-circular arch. From the courtyard, a stone staircase leads up to the chapel, whose doorways is decorated with fleur-de-lys. The modest interior has a ribbed vault framing a keystone engraved with the arms of the Montesquiou family, lords of Charbonnières from the 13th century onwards. The other parts of the residential building have handsome fireplaces, a monumental staircase and fine vaulted halls. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the château became the property of the Volonzac Malespina family and, in the 19th century, of the Boutin family. It is not open to the public. 

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  Water

  Not always a docile river!

  For 52 km, from the point it enters the canyon at Quézac to Le Rozier, the Tarn has no overground tributary. However, it is fed by about 170 karst springs stemming from subterranean aquifer networks. These springs release the rainwater absorbed by the avens, dolines and fissures of the Causses plateaux. When reserves are high, the water gushes with great force from the karst environment. Locals say that “the corks are popping”. In the event that the tributaries of the Tarn (the Mimente and Tarnon) rise and add to the springs, the time will have come to move the furniture upstairs.