Balade à Roulettes n° 34 Le chemin des Hautes Promenades à Lembeye

Balade à roulettes n°34 Le chemin des Hautes Promenades à Lembeye

• On wheels : 30 min - Difficulty Very easy
• on foot : 30 min - Difficulty Very easy
• Distance : 0.9km
• Public : Famille - Famille avec poussette - Personnes à mobilité réduite - Tous publics

Lembeye, "which arouses envy", as its Bearnais name indicates, is an ancient bastide of the Vic-Bilh which dominates, at 311 m of altitude, the valley of the Lees to the west, offering towards the south a beautiful panorama on the chain of the Pyrenees
The walk connects the clock tower to the church Notre-Dame de-l'Assomption by a small one-way street serving local residents. Children with their bikes will enjoy riding around the nearby Bassillon-Vauzé lake.

Don't miss

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  The clock tower (Heritage)

  It is the only significant remnant of the ancient fortifications of the old bastide town. The gate tower was built in two stages: the ground floor (second half of the 13th century) was built in cut stone (medium-sized sandstone blocks), then the tower was raised in brick and pebble for the three upper levels at the end of the 14th century. A pointed arch passageway is present on both sides. The windows were narrowed and adapted for firearms in the 16th century. The municipal clock was installed in the attic before 1720. A second tower is thought to have stood at the northern end of Rue de la Tour, along with a castle around which the village developed. These gates had a drawbridge over the moat and a portcullis operated by a winch that opened and closed the passage into the town. Today, they have completely disappeared. The clock tower also served as a prison in the 18th century.

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  High walking trail (Panorama)

  Discover a pretty Béarnaise house with blue shutters. It is characterised by a steeply sloping roof covered with flat tiles, and the junction between the wall and the roof is highlighted by a cornice of hollow masonry tiles, often supported by brick mouldings forming successive projections. This Hautes Promenades path was the town's rampart walk in the days of the old bastide, connecting the clock tower to the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption. It was lined with palenc, a series of wooden stakes driven into the ground above the large moat, which has since been filled in and now serves as a road. It is a privileged vantage point for observing the Pyrenees mountain range.

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  Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Heritage)

  Church closed to the public: take a tour to discover the architectural features. This ogival-style church is the largest Gothic religious building in Vic-Bilh. It was built in the 16th century on the site of an older church, probably dating from the 13th or 14th century. This three-nave church with ribbed vaults has a total of 13 stained-glass windows. West side: beautiful flamboyant-style double-leaf portal, protected by a bell tower porch. Basket-handle archway topped by a tympanum with a niche containing a statue of the Virgin Mary, to whom the church is dedicated. Above the niche: a scalloped arch decorated with curly kale, topped by a shield carried by two angels and framed by bellows and mouchettes. Massive square bell tower topped by a tall modern spire. Small carved stone embedded in the wall representing a cow.