Verfeil, Haute-Garonne

Verfeil

Commune

Coat of arms

Verfeil

Location within Occitanie region

Verfeil

Coordinates: 43°39′30″N 1°39′42″E / 43.6583°N 1.6617°ECoordinates: 43°39′30″N 1°39′42″E / 43.6583°N 1.6617°E

Country

Coteaux du Girou

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Hervé Dutko

Area¹

41.23 km² (15.92 sq mi)

Population (2008)²

2,993

• Density

73/km² (190/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

31573 /31590

Elevation

146–273 m (479–896 ft)
(avg. 225 m or 738 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Verfeil is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France.

It was an important centre of Catharism from about 1140 to the mid 13th century. Bernard of Clairvaux preached against heresy at Verfeil in 1145. Sent away without a proper hearing by the seigneurs, he is said to have cursed the town with the words Viridefolium, desiccet te Deus! ("Verfeil, may God dry you up!") Izarn Neblat, one of those seigneurs, was said by Guillaume de Puylaurens to have lived in his old age in poverty at Toulouse as a result of this curse; the town's recovery was dated by the faithful to the period of the Albigensian Crusade, when Simon IV de Montfort gave it to bishop Foulques de Toulouse.

An important Catholic-Cathar debate was held at Verfeil in 1206. The Catholic side was led by Diego de Acebo, bishop of Osma, supported by the future Saint Dominic; among the Cathars were Pons Jourda and Arnaud Arrufat.

The town hall

The castle

The Vaureze's Gate

The church "Saint Blaise"

The church "Saint-Sernin-of-Rais"

War Memorial

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Wikipedia