Our Blog - Snow Trip 2025 - Marcolès, France

Marcolès is a beautiful medieval village which has its origins in the 10th century, and was fortified in the 13th century. The village has narrow cobbled streets, stone houses, lots of flowers, slate roofs, and a number of half-timber houses.

We started at the main square, the Place de la Fontaine, with the fountain and an arched stone gateway that leads into the medieval village. There were 2 fortification walls: one in the 13th century and one in the 15th century. None of the gates from the 13th century remain, but this one dates from the 15th century.

The Church of Saint Martin dates from the 14th century and was built in the southern Gothic style. It has been largely remodeled over the centuries including moving the bell tower from over the entrance to the east gable and being shortened during the Revolution. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the side chapels were added at the request of rich and noble families of the parish to have the right to be buried there. If you look at the doorway, you can see that the decorative frame is made of a darker stone than the rest of the church. The porch is built in volcanic stone coming from the various extinct volcanos in the area.

The interior seems much lower than I would have guessed from the outside, but you can see all of the Gothic arches and vaults.

A variety of pictures of the altarpieces of the main altar (the canopy) and of the side chapels.

Most of the side chapels have fairly blank walls, but this one was heavily decorated with a lovely carved wood altarpiece.

The Maison Carrée (the square house) was at the edge of the first enclosure but only dates from 1824. Back in the 13th century, a tower house was built here in 1203 by a lord of the area (called the Maison de la Tour). It ended up in ruins and this house was built on top.

We have now made our way to the other end of town and the 2nd gate, called the Lower Gate. This gate also dates from the 15th century and is on the opposite end of the main street in the 15th century. There is a staircase on one side that will take you up to the gatehouse above. This is the village-side.

On the outside, it looks much more imposing! You can see the 2 arrow-slits that would allow defending the village from attackers by shooting a bow or crossbow. the coat of arms of the Boisset family, lords of the village in 1437, is seen above the gateway with 2 fleurs-de-lys.

Then we headed back to the first gate along Rue Longue, which would have been the main street in the 15th century. The houses here have beautiful façades and great stonework, including several with mullioned windows characteristic of the Renaissance period.