The South West of France has some 350 “bastides” (fortified towns) making up a heritage that is representative of the regional identity. In this region, a bastide is defined as a “new town” built in the 13th and 14th centuries, and intentionally designed according to an ordered plan with the town structured around a large central square. Although similar to each other on the face of it, each bastide has its own identity.
These bastides, or market villages, bear the mark of the royal influence on the territory. The way they are planned sets them apart from other types of village; the regular, orthonormal plan was the rule for their construction. The idea was to have a central square without any houses surrounded by identical plots of residential districts. Each bastide is different, but all have the same regular form with the marketplace at its centre and houses set under arcades around it.
The plan of Sainte-Foy La Grande is one of the most representative of this system implemented in the Middle Ages.
Alphonse de Poitiers, the brother of Saint-Louis, was the founder in 1255 of Sainte Foy La Grande, initially called Sainte Foy en Agenais. In the following year he granted its inhabitants their liberties and customs. The town was created on a territory that had seen virtually no form of previous construction. It was a frontier town with both a military and a commercial vocation. In June 1256, the town received its liberties and customs in accordance with a charter that went on to serve as a model for many later creations.
As "The Gateway to Périgord", Sainte-Foy La Grande has always occupied a special position, between Périgord and the Agenais region, in terms of history, religion, geography and administration. The Cité de Sainte Foy La Grande is one of the smallest communes in France: it covers just 51 hectares, almost all of which are urbanised.