The French municipality of Estaing lies in the department
of Aveyron, in the southwest part of the Massif Central. At
present there are more than 600 inhabitants of the Estagnols.
Estaing is proud to be on the prestigious list of the
100 most beautiful villages in France. Small, beautiful streets
catch one’s eye. The view of the village is dominated
by the Château d Estaing, a castle built in the 15th
and 16th centuries. Successive Counts of Estaing, master builders
of the castle, esteemed the castle until the French revolution.
There is also an impressive Gothic bridge, built over the
river Lot from 1501 up to 1529, which forms a charateristic
view of the village.
The city is the place of residence of the family Giscard
d’Estaing, the family who gave the 20th president of
the republic to France, Valéry Giscard d Estaing.
Building: The church Saint Fleuret
The church Saint Fleuret was built in the middle of the
15th century, on the site of the former 11th century Romanesque
priory of Saint-Fleuret. Fleuret was a former bishop of Clermont-Ferrand
who died in 620 in Estaing. He is considered to be the patron
saint of the village. The style of the current church is Gothic.
God’s name: Two tetragrammatons
are visible on two wrought iron doors at the entrance to the
altar of the chapel St. Fleuret. The little doors look like
the doors we found at Grenoble – at the Cathedral of
Notre Dame.
A photograph of the beautiful castle…
A photograph of the church…
A first door…
and finally a second door…
