Najac () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants o ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Najac station Najac is a railway station in Najac, Occitanie, France, on the Brive–Toulouse (via Capdenac) line. It is served by TER (local) services operated by SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; Frenc ...

has rail connections to Toulouse, Figeac and Aurillac. Najac village is set along a ridge above a bend in the river

. In the earlier part of the last century the village had around 2,000 people but it suffered marked

population decline A population decline (also sometimes called underpopulation, depopulation, or population collapse) in humans is a reduction in a human population size. Over the long term, stretching from prehistory to the present, Earth's total human population ...

as workers migrated to towns and cities. Several films concern the village and its surrounds, for example, ''La Vie Comme Elle Va''. The village economy, once famous for ham, is based largely on tourism and agriculture. Most land in the commune is still used for farming and there are a significant number of long-term inhabitants. During the summer, the population increases significantly due to

second home Second Home is Marié Digby's second album and first Japanese studio album, released on March 4, 2009. Track list Marié Digby albums 2009 albums {{2000s-pop-rock-album-stub ...

owners and holiday-makers. Most holiday home owners are British, Canadian, Dutch or from the north of France. The village is known for historic buildings and apparent medieval character. A partly ruined château dominates; it was built by villagers in 1253 on the orders of

Alphonse de Poitiers Alphonse or Alfonso (11 November 122021 August 1271) was the count of Poitou from 1225 and count of Toulouse (as such called Alphonse II) from 1249. As count of Toulouse, he also governed the Marquisate of Provence. Birth and early life Born at ...

. The 13th century Eglise Saint-Jean, built by villagers as a punishment for Cathar beliefs, overlooks the lower village, while at the other end, the

faubourg "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, th ...

has the typical architecture of many

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the f ...

villages with

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

houses and commercial arcades around an open area. Najac is also one of the 140 or so ''Plus Beaux Villages de France'' (most beautiful villages of France), which in addition to ensuring its tourism status, brings money to maintain the village.

Population

References

External links

A Short Tour of Najac
Communes of Aveyron Plus Beaux Villages de France Aveyron communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Aveyron-geo-stub

Population

See also

References

External links