Saint - Guilhem - le - Désert

The Gellone Valley is a like a stone box with breathtakingly steep sides covered in thyme, oaks and pines: a landscape of nothing but stone and sky. The legendary village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert lies nestled in the heart of the valley. Its ancient streets have been stretching out in the warm Languedoc sunshine for twelve centuries. Although not all its houses are perhaps special in themselves, overlapping each other with roof tiles that have developed a patina from the sun and the passing years, they all bear the traces of their past, with arcatures, lintels, gemelled windows and various other features.

The village, which grew up around the Abbey of Gellone, retains a strong medieval feel, and a harmony as a whole that is rarely found.

This Grand Site National is classified as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France and its abbey has been listed as a World Heritage monument by UNESCO as part of the Pilgrimage Route of Santiago de Compostela.

Guided tour of the village and Abbey