We share our prime ideas for what to see and do in Mirepoix, a medieval jewel of the Midi-Pyrénées area, with oodles of attraction and a marvellous market!
Say ‘Mirepoix’ and if onions, celery and carrots are the very first thing that springs to thoughts, it exhibits you realize your approach across the kitchen. And in a roundabout approach the mirepoix you cube comes from this charming medieval market city situated on the river Hers within the Ariège on the crossroads of Toulouse, Carcassonne and Foix, within the coronary heart of Cathar nation.
Historical past of Mirepoix
With 600 members of the heretical Cathar sect and a Cathar lord – Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix – the city was an early goal of the Albigensian Campaign to get rid of all of them. Simon de Montfort captured Mirepoix in 1209 and bestowed it on his right-hand man, Man de Lévis. The Lévis would rule Mirepoix till the French Revolution, whereas Pierre-Roger de Mirepoix went on to guide the Cathar garrison within the lofty citadel of Monségur. Right here 225 Cathars have been besieged by the crusaders till they have been starved out in 1244. All most popular to be burned on the stake quite than convert to Catholicism.
‘Mirepoix’ comes from Mira Peis (‘see the fish’ in previous Occitan), therefore the golden fish in town’s coat of arms. Initially the Mirapiciens appeared on the fish from the correct financial institution of the river Hers, till a flooded dam swept Mirepoix away in 1279, leaving solely its fortress, the Château de Terride. Jean de Lévi constructed a alternative city greater up on the left financial institution and created, bastide-style, an oblong grid of streets round a market sq., with a church off to the facet. The Lévis rebuilt it after the Black Prince sacked it in 1355 within the Hundred Years’ Conflict. A decade later English mercenaries, the Routiers burned it down once more.
A bit after the very fact, Mirepoix was fortified: one gate, the Porte d’Aval, continues to be intact.
Medieval masterpiece
However karma was completed with Mirepoix, leaving it one of the stunning (and largest) market squares in all Occitanie: the colorful, 112m by 55m Place des Couverts, lined with wooden pillared porticoes the place retailers may commerce in all weathers. Half-timbered homes line the market place a lot of them sporting gurning gargoyles. A lined arcade makes procuring a dream right here, and sitting exterior having fun with a espresso or glass of wine is feasible regardless of the climate.
The very best gargoyles and carvings (103 of them!) adorn the ends of the beams of the Maison des Consuls, as soon as seat of the native magistrates.
Due to its key location, Mirepoix has at all times been an necessary market city, and Place des Couverts is the right stage for Mirepoix’s huge Monday morning market in addition to for festivals, together with the Swing à Mirepoix jazz on Easter weekend and the themed Fête de la Pomme in October. The native apple artists love a problem: bulls made from apples? Musical devices? Tintin? No downside!
Historic monuments
Looming over all is the 58m tower of the church of Saint-Maurice. The Lévis started it in 1298, however in 1317 when the pope elevated Mirepoix to a bishopric (a part of the Church’s scheme to maintain a detailed eye on heresy hazard zones), they went a bit mad and carried on constructing for the subsequent six centuries. The nave is a tour de drive of southern Gothic, the place width quite than top was a factor: its 22.2m single span nave is surpassed solely by Girona’s Cathedral (22.98m).
Stroll alongside Avenue de Pont to see Mirepoix’s different monument historique: an 800-year-old holm oak, final survivor of the forest chopped right down to re-build the 13th century city.
Even older is the outstanding three storey Église Rupestre de Vals, 12km west of Mirepoix. Partially constructed into the rock, a holy web site because the Bronze Age and as soon as a temple to a Celtic god, its mid-level is adorned 12th century Catalan frescoes. There’s no place in France prefer it.
And the Mirepoix?
One of many final dukes, Gaston Pierre de Lévis-Mirepoix (1699-1757) regardless of being “an incompetent and mediocre particular person… who owed his huge fortune to the love Louis XV felt towards his spouse,” had a chef who invented a sauce and named it after his boss. The unique model included wine and meats, however over the many years mirepoix merely got here to imply the diced carrots, onions and celery that you just sauté to begin dozens of sauces, soups and stews.
Dana Facaros has lived in France for over 30 years. She is the creator of French Meals Decoder app: every part you need to learn about French meals, and co-author of the Bradt information to Gascony & the Pyrenees and lots of information books to France.
Discover out extra about Mirepoix at: ariegepyrenees.com
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