Description: The Minervois area of South-Western France is dotted with ancient fortified villages.
The villages are constructed out of local stone and heaped with character. Small winding streets, often too narrow for cars loop their way through the villages. Most of these villages were constructed in a circle, with the outside walls of the houses being fortified. Many of them date back to the 10th and 11th centuries.
Caunes-Minervois is a medieval village of steep, twisting, narrow streets and sand-colored stone buildings interspersed with deep red marble mined from the hills around. The village is dominated by the 8th Century Abbey that lies at its heart.
