Niaux

Municipality of Niaux Altitude: 511 m Location: in the Vicdessos valley a few kilometers from Tarascon-sur-Ariège, towards the new municipality of Val-de-Sos (Vicdessos) and AuzatNumber of inhabitants: 154 Distances: Tarascon-sur-Ariege 4 km, Vicdessos 6 km. The international reputation of Niaux and its caves is considerable even more than the village. The large cave of Niaux retains drawings from the end of the Magdalenian period (13 or 14 years ago) and traces of paths, but many other caves have yielded many other remains around Niaux. a Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Vincent the Spaniard, a very fashionable saint in Upper Ariège in the Middle Ages, the village of Niaux was framed in the 000th century by 3 fortified caves, castle-barracks of the Counts of Foix: that of Niaux, that under Calamas on the left bank and that of Alliat. These caves were used to monitor the road to the bottom of the valley, they are now almost destroyed. The cave is located on the heights of Niaux upstream from the castle of Miglos. In addition, in the mountains, at an altitude of more than 1300 m directly above the village, another fortification has been spotted, named Castel Merle, in the open air, but which is not dated and could have existed in the Upper Middle. Age. It was only at the end of the Middle Ages that Niaux was endowed with a castle-manor and a small fortification of which few remains today in the village, near the Alliat bridge. Downstream, in the gorges, at the foot of the road, there was a very large Catalan-style iron forge from the 15th to the 18th century. Opening hours of the town hall: Tuesday and Thursday: XNUMX p.m. to XNUMX p.m.