It is the smallest village in France, no cars can drive there.

Enter the smallest village in France, with its inestimable medieval charm!

Far from mass tourism, the villages of France seduce with their old-world charm, their gentle mobility, their historical, cultural, natural or gastronomic heritage. These preserved places, where you can finally breathe, have attracted more and more tourists since the Covid health crisis. If the most “beautiful villages in France” are widely coveted, there are villages that attract the attention of vacationers for other reasons. We never stop going around the records! There is a village in France that does not even fill the surface area of ​​the famous Place Charles-de-Gaulle in Paris, where the Arc de Triomphe sits…

In this smallest village in France, there is no school, no grocery store, and no cemetery. Its 53 inhabitants travel only to feet, no car can drive there. It must be said that the narrowness of the village does not allow it. Indeed, this commune has an area of ​​only 3.54 hectares, with a perimeter that reaches only 970 meters. It is a tiny village located about sixty kilometers southeast of Bordeaux, in the natural region of Entre-deux-Mers.

The village of Castelmoron d'Albret is a medieval jewel of the Gironde, perched on a rocky spur, including around fifty houses with suspended balconies, where stones and vegetation mingle, dominate the valley of S&eacutegur. In this village of France, everything is tiny and charming: from the flowery and winding alleys to the small squares and staircases, passing by the houses of which the smallest measures only 2 meters wide.

The old washhouse of Castelmoron-d'Albret, which collects rainwater, adjoins a flower garden. An invitation to relax, lulled by the whisper of the water. © PhilippeGraillePhoto – stock.adobe.com

Classified Listed as a Historic Monument since 1973, the Castelmoron d'Albret site takes us to the heart of the Middle Ages, with its monumental defensive façade, its superb wrought iron entrance gate, its tower of an old castle, its stone buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, its Sainte-Catherine-et-Notre-Dame church, its old ducal palace, forge and grain market. Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre and mother of Henry IV, even took up residence there. The site has also had its moment of glory these days, since it served as the setting for the TV movie La Bicyclette bleue with Laetitia Casta.

You are tempted to visit the smallest village in France ? Since the year 2000, Castelmoron-d'Albret has welcomed Christmas cribs from all over the world, a biennial event that takes place takes place during the second half of December and arouses the curiosity of several thousand visitors, also enchanted by its pottery shop, art gallery and small tea room. The Christmas period is therefore the ideal time to take a (small) tour!