Tarn-et-Garonne is the youngest of France’s departments, created in 1808 by Napoleon from parts of neighbouring departments. Its capital, Montauban, is France’s first royal bastide, founded in 1144, and the global capital of the painter Ingres, whose museum houses the largest collection of his works.
This department at the confluence of rivers — the Tarn joins the Garonne at Moissac, and the Aveyron at Montauban — boasts a rich heritage of castles, reflecting its position as a crossroads between Quercy, Agenais and Rouergue. Moissac Abbey, whose Romanesque cloister is one of the masterpieces of European medieval sculpture; Larroque Castle in Saint-Nauphary; Bruniquel, whose castle perched on its rocky outcrop overlooks the confluence of the Aveyron and the Vère; Cazals… The heritage of Tarn-et-Garonne is understated but of remarkable quality.
The bastides dotted across the region — Lauzerte, listed among the most beautiful villages in France, Montpezat-de-Quercy, Caylus — bear witness to the medieval urbanisation policy that shaped the settlement of these fertile agricultural lands.