Oenorando® Dans les pas d'Amédée le vigneron

When the Romans planted the first vines around ancient Gaillac in the 2nd century, they foresaw all the qualities that the land and climate could bring to their wine. Added to these advantages was the river Tarn, which was ideal for transporting amphorae by river to the ports of the Garonne and the Atlantic. 

In the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance, this lucrative trade intensified, bringing in hard cash for the clergy and merchants (wine sales), the local lords (tolls on the Tarn) and all the small trades involved in growing, making and transporting wine.

Rabastens, like Gaillac, Lisle-sur-Tarn and St-Sulpice, was built around its ports, which were centres of trade and opened up to the Western world. At a time when Bordeaux belonged to the kings of England (14th century), the wine from the Gaillac region that passed through was sent to Great Britain, accounting for 8% of the wines from the kingdom of France. Many pilgrims travelling to or from Santiago de Compostela and other places of pilgrimage took the same routes as the Gaillac barrels and, like them, experienced the hazards of navigation (piracy, shipwreck, etc.). 

In Rabastens, the church of the former Romanesque priory, Notre Dame du Bourg, was completely covered in sparkling, original, and decorative paintings in the 14th century. Covered in whitewash in the 16th century and revealed by chance in the 19th century. Because of its singularity, it was included in UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1998 as part of the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago de Compostela. A must to see.
Good to know : there are few mentions on touristic guides.