What to do in and around Saint-Pierre de Nogaret

Take the Pont de Mesclon hike (from the village) Follow the route des lacs to Nasbinals and discover the beauty of the Aubrac plateau, its lakes and waterfalls… Discover the nearby Lot Valley See the Croix de Rhode in the commune of Les Salces Admire the views of the Aubrac foothills from the Col du Trébatut, Col de Bonnecombe and Signal de Mailhebiau. Enjoy all-season activities at Col de Bonnecombe and its fishing pond Take part in the transhumance at Col de Bonnecombe Enjoy aligot, truffade, sausage or Aubrac beef in a buron or inn …

How do I get to Saint-Pierre de Nogaret?

By car: from exit 40 at Banassac, take the D988 towards Saint-Laurent d’Olt, then turn right onto the D56 towards Saint-Pierre de Nogaret. By train: the nearest station is Banassac. By bus: LIO buses (Occitanie region buses), route 280, stop at the Banassac car-sharing area 8km away.

Where can I park in Saint-Pierre de Nogaret?

In Saint-Pierre de Nogaret, you can park in the parking lot in front of the village hall.

Saint-Pierre de Nogaret | From Aubrac to the Gorges du Tarn

The village of Saint-Pierre de Nogaret

In the foothills of Aubrac

This charming little village has a rich heritage. Here you’ll find a Romanesque stone church with a square bell tower complete with spires and belfries. The church’s chevet is full of poetry, with its five Romanesque windows, columns with capitals and carved pink sandstone rubble under the cornice. Numerous crosses and the village bread oven are also part of Saint-Pierre de Nogaret‘s ancestral heritage.

The commune of Saint-Pierre de Nogaret is 14 km long and 5 km wide. It lies between the Lot Valley and the Monts d’Aubrac. The now abandoned village of Nogaret, just south of Saint-Pierre de Nogaret, was the seat of the Mandement de Nogaret.

The Mandement de Nogaret

Over 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, formed the Mandement de Nogaret. This was attached to the crown of the King of France as early as 1258. It extended from Mailhebiau to the Lot Valley. It was made up of small cultivated plateaus and steep-sided valleys with dwellings accessible only by narrow paths. As such, it was virtually impregnable to invaders, and played an important defensive role, particularly in controlling traffic routes from Rouergue and the hinterland to the Lot Valley.

Misty Aubrac morning landscape. — ©
Aubrac in the early morning.
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© B. Colomb Lozère Sauvage Pour Pact Aubrac

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Aubrac landscape in spring.
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© B. Colomb Lozère Sauvage Pour Pact Aubrac

The Hamlet of Nogaret

Seat of the Mandement de Nogaret

Not far from Saint-Pierre de Nogaret, the village of Nogaret once stood on the banks of the Doulou in a deep valley. The site would have included a dozen dwellings, a mill, three bread ovens and a Marian chapel. The feudal castle that was the seat of the Mandement de Nogaret has long since fallen into ruin. At the time, the village had a population of around one hundred, today only a handful…

The Nogaret chapel

Before 1307, there was already a Marian chapel, built above the castle. In 1427, Pierre Rigal established a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Thomas of Cantorberry. Around 1772, the building collapsed, and in 1775 a smaller chapel was rebuilt to house the wooden statue of Notre-Dame, removed from the collapsed church. Ancestral worship and pilgrimage were resumed until the French Revolution, when the chapel was closed and the statue hidden in a grotto by a local woman. She died without revealing her secret, and when the chapel was reopened it was without the statue. It was found by chance and placed back in the chapel, but in an advanced state of deterioration, it had to be replaced by an oak statue of the Virgin. In 1875, a larger chapel was built, with the same dimensions as the 14th-century one. In 1895, the vault collapsed again, but the sanctuary was restored thanks to members of the association “Les Amis de la Chapelle Nogaret”. Every year, at the beginning of September, it hosts a pilgrimage in honor of Mary.

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