La Fontaine du Bourguet

Above the fountain, a carved stone indicates the year “1562”. This nourishing water was used to supply the “closed town” of Ville Barrade and the Bourguet district, “where sailors and boat builders lived”. Pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela who passed through Cazères would make a much-appreciated stopover at the fountain. The spring has never stopped flowing. The more recent wash-house, fed by the spring, is made of Garonne pebbles and bricks. Washerwomen used to come here to wash their clothes. On the opposite bank is the renovated Ville-Barrade district, now home to the media library (a former abattoir and municipal theatre dating from the 1850s). As you walk upstream, you’ll see the waterfall. This stream used to power the mill belonging to the priests’ fraternity.