Places to visit: Najac

Last September we visited Najac in the Aveyron for a very brief ‘honeymoon’ after our wedding – actually just an afternoon – short but delightful and with some very delicious ice-creams at the end. A pandemic doesn’t really seem the right time to head off on a post wedding holiday – one day perhaps.

Our visit was on a beautiful sunny day, after the summer season, so Najac was quiet, the tourists long gone. Najac is a small medieval village surrounded by forests, in the former province of Rouergue, now in the Aveyron. The castle, built in the mid-13^th century by Count Alphonse de Poitiers, towers over the village, 200m above the Aveyron gorges.

What an interesting village to explore, neatly perched on 2 hills, with gorgeous medieval houses lining the road that goes from the main square along a ridge and up to the medieval fortress or château on the opposite hill. The houses are topped with stunning slate tiled roofs (ardoises), so typical in the Aveyron. The tiles in Najac, known as lauze, are even more special as they are much larger and heavier than usual, making the ones that came off our roof look very thin by comparison – even though they were at least a hundred years old!

A particular feature of this village is its one main street running from the main square, Place du Faubourg, along a ridge towards the castle. The square is the village’s market place and on one side there is a row of arcaded buildings where the first floor overhangs the ground floor below. Other notable buildings include the Maison du Gouverneur (13^th to 15^th century) and the Maison du Sénéchal (15^th to 16^th century).

After a coffee sitting in the main square, unusually on deckchairs at the Bar-Tabac La Plage (we are quite a way from the sea and a beach), we wandered along the main street towards the château, admiring both the view ahead and the buildings we passed, including what is billed as the first post office in Najac, opened in 1840 – over 180 years ago. I wonder how many letters, parcels and telegrams passed through this building.

We didn’t visit the castle this time, but the view from there of the surrounding countryside and the village below is breath-taking. We did pop in to the church, l’Eglise Saint Jean l’Evangéliste, to be greeted by a rather beautiful prayer and sunshine glinting through the colourful stained glass windows, casting rainbow patterns on the surrounding stonework.