The Gers is a department in the heart of Gascony, the land of d’Artagnan and the good life, of Armagnac and foie gras, of medieval bastides and windmills on sun-drenched hillsides. This region of rolling hills and green valleys, long contested between the kings of France and England, saw the rise of a large number of fortresses and castles that controlled the roads and borders of the County of Gascony.
Auch, the department’s capital, with its Gothic cathedral and monumental staircase guarded by a statue of d’Artagnan, is the historic heart of the Gers. The English and French bastides that dot the landscape — Fleurance, Mirande, Montréal-du-Gers, Marciac — bear witness to the urban settlement policy of the 13th and 14th centuries. Lavardens Castle, a medieval fortress perched on a hillside overlooking the plain, is one of the finest in the department, with its 47 rooms currently undergoing restoration.
The Gers is also the land of jazz, with the Marciac festival, and of rugby, the quintessential Gascon sport, which testifies to the cultural vitality of a department that has managed to preserve its identity amidst the tide of modernity.