HERITAGE
La Romieu: collegiate church, village and the legend of the cats
A spectacular collegiate church, cats hiding in the streets and sweeping views across the Lomagne.
Photo : Engascogne, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Just a few minutes from Castet-Arrouy, La Romieu deserves more than a quick visit. You may come first for its imposing collegiate church, but before long you’ll find yourself looking for cats on the façades, wandering through the little streets and taking in the Lomagne from the heights of the village.
A collegiate church you can’t miss
Founded in the 14th century by Cardinal Arnaud d’Aux, Saint-Pierre Collegiate Church towers over the village with its two imposing towers. The complex, which includes the church, cloister and surrounding buildings, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.
The Gothic cloister, with its arcades and inner garden, provides a striking contrast to the imposing exterior of the collegiate church.
There is another architectural curiosity to discover during the visit: a double spiral staircase, designed so that two people can go up and down without ever crossing paths.
And for those who climb all the way to the top, the reward is a view over the village rooftops and the rolling countryside of the Lomagne.
But why all the cats?
In La Romieu, they appear at windows, on façades and around corners as you wander through the village.
They tell the legend of Angeline, a young girl said to have saved her cats during a time of famine. When rats later overran the village, the cats are said to have returned the favour by saving its inhabitants.
Much later, sculptor Maurice Serreau brought the legend to life by creating a whole population of stone cats around the village.
Looking for them has since become part of any visit — and with children, a walk around La Romieu quite naturally turns into a cat hunt.
Don’t leave just yet
Once you’ve visited the collegiate church and spotted the cats, La Romieu is worth a little more of your time. Its old houses, village square and little streets make it an easy place to linger and carry on exploring.
And the Jardins de Coursiana are just outside the village, making it very easy to visit both on the same outing.
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