Condom
The Vía Podiensis
Condom is the capital of the Armagnac country and the Tenareze, and it feels like it. This is a proper market town on the Baise River, with all the services you could want: hotels, gites, restaurants, shops, pharmacy, ATM, tourist office. It's the last full-service town until Eauze, so resupply here.
The town grew around an abbey and became an important pilgrimage stop on the route to Santiago. Its wealth came later from Armagnac brandy -- France's oldest eau-de-vie, predating Cognac by 200 years -- which was shipped down the Baise (once called the "silver river") to the Garonne and onward to market. The Musee de l'Armagnac, housed in the former Episcopal Palace, traces the full production cycle from vineyard to barrel.
In the Place Saint-Pierre you'll find a bronze statue of d'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers by Georgian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, installed in 2010. At 2.50 m tall and 5.5 tonnes, it's hard to miss. The real d'Artagnan (Charles de Batz de Castelmore) was actually from Lupiac, 50 km south, but all of Gascony claims him.
If you have time, Flaran Abbey lies about 8 km south -- one of the best-preserved Cistercian abbeys in the southwest, founded in 1151 and now a departmental heritage center with a notable art collection.
The name Condom comes from the Gaulish Condatomagos, meaning "market at the confluence" -- the Gele and Baise rivers meet here. The bishopric was established in 1317, but the town's defining monument is the Cathedrale Saint-Pierre, one of the last major Flamboyant Gothic buildings in the Gers. Designed at the end of the 15th century and built from 1506 to 1531, it follows the Southern Gothic template: a wide single nave with side chapels between buttresses. The adjacent 16th-century cloister, which once connected the bishops to their private chapel, is now a public passageway.
In the 19th century, Armagnac production drove the local economy. The Gers department's output of pure alcohol doubled from 50,000 hectoliters in 1804 to over 100,000 by 1872, much of it shipped from Condom's river port.
Accommodation in Condom.
| Gîte Le Champ d'étoiles 15€ 15 |
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| Gîte d´étape Le Relais de Saint-Jacques 20+*€ 15 Booking.com |
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| Gîte d´étape L'Aller Simple 15€ 8 |
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| Gîte Le Refuge de Jean 15€ 5 |
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| Gîte l'Ancien Carmel de Condom 25*€ 13 |
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| Gîte de Gabarre 17€ 40 |
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| Gîte et chambre d'hôtes Au Plaisir d'Etape 20€ 8 |
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| Gîte La Halte du Kiosque 19€ 10 |
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| Gîte d'étapes Le Réconfort 36**€ |
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