Villages that remained.

Montsoreau

Montsoreau · Pays de la Loire

Montsoreau lies in Maine-et-Loire, on the Loire close to its confluence with the Vienne. Tuffeau houses and slate roofs connect the village to the architectural landscape of Anjou and Touraine. The château stands beside the river and houses a museum of contemporary art. Village lanes, riverfront spaces and troglodyte heritage extend the subject beyond the castle. Montsoreau is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and lies in the Loire Valley cultural landscape. The museum’s collections and admission are distinct from a walk through the settlement. The river’s presence, local building stone and the changing use of historic structures are central to the place.

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie · Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, close to the Verdon landscape. The village is built beneath limestone cliffs and divided by a stream. Faïence production is an important part of its identity, with workshops and a museum devoted to the craft. The parish church has a distinctive Romanesque bell tower, while the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Beauvoir stands above the houses and is reached by a rising path. A star hangs on a chain between the cliffs; stories explaining its origin belong to local legend rather than established documentary history. Moustiers-Sainte-Marie is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Its craft tradition, settlement and rocky setting are complementary subjects.

Najac

Najac is a medieval village in Aveyron, set on a rocky ridge above the river’s meanders. Its municipal introduction identifies a thirteenth-century fortress and narrow village streets as features of the settlement. These place the village within both a built and river landscape.

Óbidos, Portugal

Óbidos preserves monuments from several building periods. Rua Direita, already known by that name in the fourteenth century, links the town gate to the Paço dos Alcaides. Work on the aqueduct began in 1573, funded by Queen Catarina of Austria.

Pals

Pals’ historic ensemble comprises a castle, village and walls. Its castle was first documented in 889. Following damage during the Catalan civil war, the king permitted its stones to be reused for Saint Peter’s church and the walls; the circular tower survived. Pals became an independent municipality in 1501.

Penne, Tarn

Penne's municipal history records centuries of flax and hemp cultivation on the Ségala lands around the village, supplying straps, ropes and halters. The last workshop closed in 1955. Wooden wheels from looms and other equipment survive in some local houses.

Pérouges

Pérouges · Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Pérouges lies in the Ain department, northeast of Lyon. Its walled historic centre contains cobbled lanes and houses associated with medieval and early modern urban life. The Place de la Halle, also called Place du Tilleul, is a principal public space. Sainte-Marie-Madeleine church forms part of the fortified edge beside the upper entrance. The Maison des Princes houses the Musée du Vieux Pérouges, which presents historical objects and archives. Crafts and local food remain part of the town’s visitor experience. Pérouges belongs to Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The preserved ensemble also reflects conservation and restoration; its present appearance should not be described as an untouched survival of the Middle Ages.

Portmeirion

Welsh architect Clough Williams-Ellis built Portmeirion between 1925 and 1973. He acquired the Aber Iâ estate in 1925 for his proposed village. The site included cliffs, an estuary, woods, streams and older buildings; he converted the shore-side house into a hotel.

Puycelsi

Puycelsi’s earliest known historical document is a sale of the lordship in 1180 by the abbot of Aurillac to Raymond V, Count of Toulouse. The counts fortified the settlement and built a castle that no longer survives. Around 1850 the municipality bought castle remains and land to create an access road.

Riquewihr

Riquewihr · Grand Est

Riquewihr lies in Haut-Rhin, among the vineyards at the foot of the Vosges. City walls and half-timbered houses define its historic centre. The Dolder, a thirteenth-century gate tower, now houses a museum concerned with the development of the fortified town. The Tour des Voleurs and an associated winegrower’s house provide another view of its social and domestic history. The nearby grands crus Schoenenbourg and Sporen connect the town to the Alsatian wine landscape. Riquewihr is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Museum interiors, streets and vineyard paths offer different ways to understand a settlement where wine production and architecture have developed together.

Robin Hood's Bay

Robin Hood’s Bay is an old fishing village on the Heritage Coast of the North York Moors. Its settlement includes narrow, twisting cobbled streets and alleyways. The surrounding coast has a sandy beach and rock pools.

Rocamadour

Rocamadour · Occitanie

Rocamadour is in the Lot department, above the Alzou valley. The settlement is arranged vertically against the cliff, with a lower street, a sanctuary level and fortifications above. The Grand Staircase connects the town to the religious complex. Among the sanctuaries are the basilica of Saint-Sauveur and the chapel of Notre-Dame, which houses the Black Madonna. The castle ramparts offer another perspective over the valley. Rocamadour is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and retains an active pilgrimage identity. Its religious buildings, everyday streets and panoramic setting are related but distinct parts of a visit; local legends should be distinguished from documented history.

Roussillon, Vaucluse

Roussillon’s history includes an ochre industry. The Mathieu factory produced around 1,000 tonnes annually between 1921 and 1963. Pigments travelled through Apt station towards Marseille for shipment. The municipal account also presents local legends separately from its geological explanation.

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie · Occitanie

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie occupies a rocky hillside above the Lot in the Causses du Quercy landscape. Narrow streets run between stone houses with steep roofs, a fortified church and the remains of the old château. The upper castle site provides views over the river valley. The village also has an artistic history, notably its association with André Breton and Joseph Rignault. Their legacy is presented through the International Centre for Surrealism and World Citizenship, alongside contemporary exhibitions and gardens. Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Its architecture, artistic associations and river setting give complementary reasons to explore it.

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port · Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port lies at the foot of the Basque Pyrenees in Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The Nive, cobbled streets and fortified enclosure organise the historic town. Notre-Dame-du-Bout-du-Pont stands close to the river, while the citadel occupies the height above the settlement. The Porte Saint-Jacques is a component of the UNESCO-listed Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France; that designation is more precise than describing the entire town as an individually listed World Heritage property. The rampart walk and the building known as the Prison des Évêques add further perspectives on its history. The town belongs to Les Plus Beaux Villages de France and remains a significant place of passage for pilgrims.

Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Saint-Paul-de-Vence has a pedestrian village centre enclosed by ramparts. The tourism office’s walking route links the Porte de Vence, Rue Grande and the church square. Within the village, the White Penitents’ chapel contains decoration designed by Jean-Michel Folon; the Folon Chapel was inaugurated in 2008.

Sainte-Suzanne

Sainte-Suzanne · Pays de la Loire

Sainte-Suzanne stands on a rocky height in Mayenne, overlooking the Erve valley and the Coëvrons landscape. The historic town retains a double system of ramparts, a keep and a château. Cobbled streets and stone houses connect these defensive structures to the domestic settlement. The château presents heritage interpretation, while the Grand Moulin preserves a working papermaking tradition in a former mill. Across the valley, Tertre Ganne provides a public perspective on the town’s elevated setting. Sainte-Suzanne belongs to Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The fortified town, château and mill are distinct but complementary parts of its history.

Salers

Salers · Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Salers stands at about 950 metres in the Cantal department, within the Auvergne Volcanoes Regional Nature Park. Its historic centre contains a notable ensemble of sixteenth-century residences and turreted houses built of volcanic stone. Saint-Mathieu church preserves works including seventeenth-century Aubusson tapestries. The Barrouze esplanade provides views towards the surrounding Cantal mountains. Cattle raising and the cheeses of Salers and Cantal connect the town’s identity to its agricultural hinterland. Salers is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Its built heritage and mountain setting are closely related, while farms and burons beyond the centre remain separate destinations.

Šmartno

Šmartno is a walled hilltop village in the Brda region of western Slovenia. The local tourism authority identifies five surviving towers and describes its former role on the Venetian-Austrian border. The village’s name comes from the Church of St Martin; its bell tower was formerly a defensive tower. The military character of the settlement began to change in the nineteenth century, and professional restoration started in the late 1970s. Today the village includes cultural exhibitions and the Brda House, which presents elements of a traditional home.

Valderrobres

Valderrobres received its settlement charter in 1183. In 1307, a dispute over the lordship ended with its definitive grant as a fief to the archbishop of Zaragoza. The municipal history describes growth in crafts, agriculture and livestock farming during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.

Vézelay

Vézelay · Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Vézelay lies in Yonne, on a hill facing the Morvan. Its main streets climb through a settlement of winegrowers’ houses, historic residences and cultural venues towards the basilica of Sainte-Madeleine. The basilica is a major work of Romanesque architecture, with a later Gothic choir and a history of restoration. The UNESCO property is specifically Vézelay, Church and Hill, inscribed in 1979. The village also offers institutions such as the Maison du Visiteur, the Musée de l’Œuvre-Viollet-le-Duc and the Maison Jules-Roy. Vézelay is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The hill, village and basilica are best understood together, with each cultural interior offering its own interpretation.

Villefranche-de-Conflent

Villefranche-de-Conflent · Occitanie

Villefranche-de-Conflent lies in Pyrénées-Orientales, in the Catalan Pyrenees at the foot of the Canigó massif. Its compact historic centre is enclosed by ramparts developed over successive periods and transformed within Vauban’s defensive system. The fortifications form part of the UNESCO serial property Fortifications of Vauban. Fort Liberia stands separately on the hillside above the town. Pink marble façades and artisan premises contribute to the character of the streets inside the walls. The railway station is associated with the Train Jaune route towards Cerdagne. Villefranche-de-Conflent belongs to Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. Town, ramparts, hill fort and railway journey are connected experiences with different access arrangements.

Vlkolínec

Vlkolínec is a mountain settlement below Sidorovo in the Veľká Fatra. Its log houses stand along a stream, with orchards, terraced fields, hay barns and forests around the village. Traditional houses use dressed conifer logs on stone foundations. Vlkolínec entered the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993.

Yvoire

Yvoire · Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Yvoire lies in Haute-Savoie on the French shore of Lake Geneva. The former fortified town retains a château, parts of its enclosure and historic gateways. Its narrow streets connect the centre with two harbours, recalling the importance of fishing and lake transport. Saint-Pancrace church has a distinctive reflective bell tower. The Jardin des Cinq Sens occupies the château’s former kitchen garden and offers a separate garden visit. Yvoire is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The castle’s presence in the skyline does not establish public access to its interiors; the village, harbours, church and garden have different visiting conditions.