Saint-Germain du Teil

General view of Saint Germain du Teil from the Aubrac foothills

Visit to the village of La Canourgue, little Venice of Lozère.

at the gateway to Aubrac

It’s impossible to say exactly when this village at the foot of the Aubrac plateau was founded. We do know, however, from pottery fragments found in 1830 and again in 1960, that it was occupied by the Romans.

Today, very little remains of the old village, with the oldest building dating back to 1773. In the 17th century, it was a hotbed of banditry, with organized bands of looters in the pay of noblemen and lords occupying the “Tour des Brigands”. It was evacuated and dismantled in 1655.

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The Mandement de Nogaret

For a long period, from the Middle Ages to the Revolution of 1789, Saint-Germain du Teil, along with the present-day communes of Saint-Pierre-de-Nogaret and Trélans, was part of the Mandement de Nogaret, barony of the lords of Canilhac. Made up of small cultivated plateaus and narrow valleys with dwellings accessible only by narrow paths, it was an almost impassable territory for invaders, and thus played an important defensive role.

The commune of Saint-Germain du Teil has always been considered one of the main gateways to the Aubrac plateau.

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entertainment

the village of Saint-Germain du Teil

Discover Saint-Germain du Teil’s festivals and events!

MARCHÉ DE NOËL DE SAINT-GERMAIN DU TEIL

Le Clos du Nid

an association with strong ties to the village of Saint-Germain du Teil

Saint-Germain du Teil has a strong bond with theClosdu Nid association. To understand this, you need to admire the large building at the entrance to the village. This building belongs to a very old Lozère family. They made it available to the Brothers of the Christian Schools in 1867. Founded by Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, the mission of this congregation was to help educate poor children, but was later extended to all boys without distinction. It had many emulators in Lozère, where from 1800 to 1952, more than 1,000 brothers joined. After their departure in 1906, the establishment became a public school for boys. From 1955 to 2005, it housed part of the “Clos du Nid”, an association created by Abbé Oziol. On Christmas Day 1955, Abbé Oziol, then curate in Marvejols, discovered a handicapped child on his doorstep. Others followed. Wishing to offer these children a dignified life, Abbé created the Clos du Nid association, and worked tirelessly for this cause until the end of his life in 2003. Thanks to him, the Lozère region now boasts a large number of centers for children and adults with multiple handicaps, disabilities or Down’s syndrome. While these centers were pioneers of their kind, they also enabled the inhabitants of Saint-Germain du Teil to find work locally, thus saving the village from the massive rural exodus that hit Lozère hard.

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