LE HAMEAU DE L'HÔPITAL

L'Hôpital, a former commandery of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, has suffered the ravages of time and conflict. The destruction caused by the Camisard war left deep scars in the lower village. While the hamlet of Lioc'al has held up better, the original village is now largely in ruins. Nineteenth-century archives testify to its past vitality: a school was active there and the population exceeded one hundred. The name "Commanderie", still used to designate part of the village, recalls the importance of this place within the hospital order, with its emblematic buildings: a farmhouse, a chapel and a prison."