A Roman spa town above the Gascon hills — violet pastilles, Roman thermal baths, and the finest violet-based confectionery in France
Lectoure is a small hilltop town in the Gers, 35km north of Auch — a former Roman settlement perched on a promontory above the Gers valley with medieval ramparts, a flamboyant Gothic cathedral, and a culinary identity built around one ingredient: the violet (Viola odorata). Lectoure is the only French town with a significant commercial violet cultivation and is internationally known for its violet pastilles (pastilles de violette de Lectoure), crystallised violets, and violet-infused liqueurs. The violets are harvested in February–March and used fresh in confectionery, distilled into violet w…
Lectoure (Lactora in Roman times) was the capital of the Lactorates tribe and became a significant Roman town on the route between Toulouse and Bordeaux. The discovery of the Roman thermal baths under the cathedral square in the 1970s confirmed its importance as a spa town in the 1st–4th centuries CE. Lectoure became the capital of the County of Armagnac in the medieval period (the counts of Armagnac held it for centuries). In 1473, Louis XI besieged and captured Lectoure, killing the Count of Armagnac — a significant moment in the absorption of Gascony into the French kingdom. The violet cul…