Our Blog - Camon, France

We decided to visit another of the Most Beautiful Villages in France ... this time the village of Camon. On the way, we got a nice view of the Pyrenees mountains with the snow on the top.

Camon is a fortified village which grew up around a Benedictine Abbey. The origins of the abbey date back to 923, possibly earlier. The original abbey and the village were destroyed, along with Mirepoix and many nearby villages, in 1289 when a natural dam broke. The village was rebuilt in the 14th century during the Hundred Years War, including a crenellated defensive wall that surrounded the church and abbey buildings but not the village. Following an attack by bandits in the 16th century, the wall was extended to surround the village.

Like with the walls of the city, this entry door dates from the 16th century. The statue of the Virgin Mary and the clock date from the time period.

The front of the House of Symbols is all that remains of a chapel that once stood here, and you can still see various theological symbols on the house. The triangle represents the Trinity, the star symbolizes hope, and the heart shows Christian charity. Then over the front door you can see IXXI (which stands for Ave Maria), JHS (which stands for Jesus, savior of men) and JH (standing for Joseph). Above the windows, you can see LSJ, which "may" stand for "glorify Saint Jesus".

The Maison Haute was built at the beginning of the 16th century, as part of the new defenses. The original tower was used for tax collecting but was transformed into a house in the 17th century. It is the most impressive medieval house in Camon, with a half-timbered façade and leaded windows dominating the center of the village.

While we could see the outside of the abbey, it has been private since the French revolution and is now a hotel.

A few views of the walls, these on the Northern side are the best preserved.

We will have to return a couple more times (we think). There are around 100 rose bushes, given to the village by vine growers who used roses as an early warning system against diseases of the vines; the roses would be attacked first giving the winegrowers a chance to act to protect the vines. The vines disappeared from this area in the early 20th century, but the roses remain and we have been told the village is lovely with the roses in bloom around May or June. There is also another interesting feature in the general area, called cabanes. These are stone shelters scattered around the countryside around the village that were formerly used as shelter and storage by the winegrowers, and before that they were used by the monks. There are around 100 of these cabanes and in July and August, there are walking tours that wander through the countryside for about 2 hours looking at these.