An old castle village has been voted one of the most beautiful in France with visitors flocking to see its ancient medieval buildings and picturesque streets.
The charming fortified village dates back to the 13th century and is built in an unusual circular shape because it was built into the ruins of a medieval castle. In the heart of the ancient province of Gascony, in southwest France, Fourcès is a historic bastide - or new town - built on a circular plan on a summit in a loop of the beautiful river, Auzoue.
Many of the village's original buildings still exist with half-timbered houses and ancient arcades visible through the boughs of the swaying plane trees in the round village square. Fourcès also has pretty side streets, a little square called Place des Cornières, a clocktower, a 15th-century castle and a medieval bridge over the Auzoue.
Thanks to its unspoilt beauty and cosy charm, Fourcès has made its way into the very selective grouping known as Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (the Most Beautiful Villages of France). This rare honour is reserved only for the most characterful and cherished of France’s many beautiful villages and sets Fourcès apart from the competition. The village saw its heyday as an agricultural centre in the 19th century when it was home to over one thousand inhabitants.
These days only about 280 people call Fourcès home but it still boasts many producers, with wines and Armagnac liqueur, foie gras and cheeses all made locally. The heart of the village is the unique circular village square, which is dotted with half-timbered houses dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries and ancient arcades which once surrounded the original castle.
The village offers a 12th century clock tower - once the former gate of the city - in the form of a belfry decorated with a pyramidal bell tower. The 15th century caste boasts a high façade adorned with mullioned windows looking down on the quaint village. Each year in the last weekend of April, a large and colourful flower market brightens up the central square in Fourcès making it well worth a detour or even a trip on its own.