Saint Guilhem le Désert

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert with its church - one of the jewels of Romanesque art in Languedoc and a staging post on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela (St James way) - stands on a site that is both wild and remote.

Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, South of France

Saint Guilhem le Désert - route to Santiago de Compostela

This village, standing at the point where the Verdus joins the Hérault, developed around an abbey, founded in 804 by St Guilhem to house a fragment of the Cross presented by Charlemagne.

All that remains to be seen today of the former abbey is a very beautiful 11th century church. Some of the columns and sculptures from the cloister are today at The Cloister museum in New York.

The village of St Guilhem le Désert, which has retained some vestiges of its fortifications, is dominated by the ruins of a 12th-century castle from which there is a magnificent panoramic view. From the Place de la Liberté, with its imposing, 150-year-old plane tree, the narrow streets of the village extend, still with their mullioned windows, twin bays and gothic lintels.

Tourist Office

2, rue Font du Portal  34150 Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
 Tel: + 33 (0) 4 67 57 44 33 - Website