Château de Najac

The castle was built in 1253 by the villagers on the orders of Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Saint Louis, on the site of an older castle (a square tower) built in 1100 by Bertrand of St Gilles, son of Raymond IV, count of Toulouse.

The inner bailey of the castle forms a rough rectangle, with the longest side about 40 meters long.

Najac has been near major events of history: the first English occupation, the Albigensian Crusade, the Hundred Years' War, the imprisonment of the Knights Templar, the peasants' revolts, and the French Revolution.

After having been used as a stone quarry in the 19th century, Najac was saved by the Cibiel family, who own it and open it to visitors.

The Château de Najac is one of a group of 23 castles in Aveyron who have joined to provide a tourist itinerary as the Route des Seigneurs du Rouergue.