CARLAROC, La Roque Valzergues Festival & rehabilitation works

The CARLAROC [Committee for Animation and Renovation of La Roque Valzergues]

President's word

“ Like the blue thistles that grow on the Causses, they are like hearts of azure, in wild prickles ”. This could be the definition of the Roucayrols , inhabitants of La Roque Valzergues , one of the four former castellanies of Rouergue , borrowing a quote from the poet Rostand .
Indeed, these enduring rural people have been able to devote the time and means necessary to revitalize their old village, and save an invaluable heritage from the ruins , in order to pass it on to future generations.
But to achieve this goal, they needed an ideal, a kind of catalyst, which would allow them to come together to undertake great tasks. This ideal, they found it soon more than half a century ago, around a modest Festival Committee , on the occasion of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, and which, in expanding, became the Committee of Animation and Renovation of La Roque Valzergues: Carlaroc .
I cannot ignore the majestic rock of La Roque , surmounted for a century by a blue Virgin , from where the view extends towards the Monts d' Aubrac , the Margeride , the Causse de Sauveterre and the valley of the Serre .
The lightning that cracked the vault of the chapel in 1982 has since struck the statue twice, shaking it considerably. Each time, Carlaroc and the municipality of Saint Saturnin de Lenne were able to undertake the necessary repairs. The inhabitants of La Roque Valzergues also practice the laws of hospitality, welcoming with pleasure and kindness visitors and walkers within the old castle. Allow me here to thank all our partners very warmly (Town hall of Saint Saturnin, General Council of Aveyron, Regional Park of the Grands Causses, Midi-Pyrennées Region, Community of Communes , and Crédit Agricole ), as well as all the members of Carlaroc and many friends , who work tirelessly to safeguard our Rouergat country.
- Pierre Ginisty , President of CARLAROC -

Saint John's Day

Traditionally, this votive festival unlike any other (which is held on the weekend closest to Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day) brings hundreds of friends and inhabitants of neighboring towns to La Roque Valzergues and its few souls....
On the program of festivities: Belote competition, country meals, great balls, tripous lunch, great Mass, outdoor games and Aveyron bowling, meetings, exchanges, conviviality, and good humor......

Restoration & Rehabilitation of the Village

Chronology of the main works...

From 1964 , the inhabitants got down to the restoration of the village of La Roque Valzergues, around the Romanesque chapel of the 11th century , and the remains of the old royal fortress , unfortunately dismantled by order of Richelieu in 1623.
The municipality of Saint-Saturnin-de-Lenne , found with Carlaroc a privileged partner, who showed himself courageous and generous to carry out many undertakings.

In 1970 , the foundations of the drawbridge, " the Pourtalas ", were consolidated, which made it possible to safeguard this centerpiece, around which , a little later, other achievements would be anchored, with in particular the resumption of part of the ramparts, the complete renovation of the avant-garde post, in which a mini-museum was installed, the development between this and the Romanesque chapel, with a magnificent esplanade , dominating the valley of the Serre, a privileged place for bowlers and bowlers, as well as walkers.
In the meantime, below the ramparts, several retaining walls for paths and an old well were rebuilt by the Carlaroc, with the help of the municipality and the Parc Régional des Grands Causses .

In the spring of 1984 , an unfortunate event, with the fire in the bell tower , constituted the start of a solidarity movement for its reconstruction, and in the process, for the restoration of the interior of the church , by bringing out the beautiful stones, then covered with plaster.

In 1993 , the repair of the old stained glass windows and the installation of new ones were undertaken with the assistance of the Department of Aveyron of the Midi-Pyrenees Region , and the Regional Park of the Grands Causses . A drinking water fountain has also been made available to walkers and visitors. Then it was the turn of the restoration of the old cemetery, always with the participation of our privileged partners.

Finally, in 2014 , two biourades (“ watering places”, in Occitan) were brought back to life, thanks to the support of Crédit Agricole de Saint Geniez.

-Texts after " Safeguarding the Rouergue "-

find out more about La Roque Valzergues and its region:
Town Hall of Saint Saturnin de Lenne
Tourist Office of the Causses in Aubrac
Community of Communes of the Causses in Aubrac