bastide of alan

As the residence of the bishops of Comminges, this village has a wealth of remains: the central square, the barbican tower, the pointed doorway of the bishops' palace decorated with the famous cow, the corbelled houses, the church and its 5-bay gabled bell tower...

The village was probably founded in the Gallo-Roman period. In the 11th century, Alan was a sauveté, a town created by the ecclesiastics for economic purposes. In the early 12th century, Alan belonged to the Bishop of Comminges and Fortanier, Lord of Benque. In 1270, the Bishop of Comminges, Bertrand de Miremont, and King Phillippe III le Hardi founded a bastide as a paréage. The territory then came under the temporal domination of the bishops. Bertrand de Got, the future Pope Clement V, was the first to reside here in part. In the 13th century (1272), Eustache de Beaumarchais transformed the sauveté into a fortified town. The bishops lived in Alan during the winter, in the palace. They governed life in the bastide until the French Revolution. Free visit by scanning the QRCode "Au Fil de Nos Histoires" at the door of the Town Hall.