A 15th-century town gate

During the Hundred Years' War, the English occupied Mur-de-Barrez twice, in 1373 and 1418. To put an end to the looting, the town built ramparts between 1435 and 1440. Half a dozen round towers guarded the ends, and a square tower served as the entrance. The ramparts have gone, but the gate remains. It has been a listed historic monument since 1913, and you still go through it to reach the Grand'Rue and the old town.

When the Carladez belonged to Monaco

In 1641 Honoré II Grimaldi, Prince of Monaco, broke with Spain and placed himself under the protection of France. The Spanish immediately seized his lands in Italy. To make up for it, Louis XIII gave him, among other things, the marquisate of Les Baux in Provence and the viscounty of Carlat, to which the Carladez belonged. So from 1643 to the Revolution, Mur-de-Barrez and the surrounding area were Monegasque land.

The link was never really broken. The gate took the name Monaco tower in 1925, the town added the Grimaldi shield to its coat of arms in 1954, and Prince Albert II visited in 2014. His daughter Gabriella holds the title of Countess of Carladès, and the princely family came back in 2025. A permanent exhibition on the first floor of the tower tells the story.

The old town

  • The Grand'Rue, lined with stone houses and the 1575 consuls' house, now the town hall.
  • The church of Saint-Thomas-de-Cantorbéry (Thomas Becket), from the 12th to the 17th centuries, whose choir was rebuilt after the Wars of Religion.
  • The Sainte-Claire monastery, founded in 1651, where Poor Clare nuns still live.
  • The castle esplanade: of the castle, razed in 1620 on the orders of Louis XIII, only the foundations remain. But the view goes all round the horizon, as far as the Plomb du Cantal and the Puy Mary.
  • Marie's garden, laid out in medieval style, behind the church.
The stone-slab roofs of Mur-de-Barrez seen from the esplanade of the old castle
The town's roofs from the esplanade. Photo: MOSSOT / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Two walks around the town

The "D'histoire en histoires" trail, one of the Sentiers de l'Imaginaire of the Carladez, starts at the Monaco tower, climbs to the esplanade and ends in the church square: 1 km and 45 minutes, with illustrated panels showing the town through the centuries. For children, "Brin d'Malice" is a treasure hunt at the foot of the old fortifications, with a booklet available from the tourist information office on the Grand'Rue.

Our tip

Park at the Corette car park and walk straight up to the esplanade on a clear day: that is where you understand where you are, between the Aubrac and the Cantal volcanoes. Messilhac castle is ten minutes away.