Chapelle de Villelongue - Musée de la Résistance
It's a short step from the Middle Ages to the 20th century: the Romanesque chapel on the fortified site of Villelongue is the setting for a Resistance museum. Passionate volunteers tell the story.
Let yourself parachute 80 years back in time!
Created to keep history alive, the site is dedicated to the Maquis Antoine, who operated in the area and found refuge there during the Occupation, to the Vény group and to the Resistance in the Ségala Tarn-Aveyron region. Indeed, the former hamlet of Villelongue was ideally located for access to the nearby Lucante parachute drop zone.
This chapel-museum features explanatory panels enriched with archive documents and objects, all under the protective umbrella of a deployed parachute.
A little history
During the Second World War, from May 1944 onwards, the commune of Villeongue, in the Cabanès area, was home to the Maquis Antoine, who established themselves in the Lézert valley to operate in the Ségala region between Tarn and Aveyron.
Why this name? It was in April 1944 that Antoine Pech, a butcher from Carmaus, was appointed leader of the Villelongue maquis, which took his name.
Want to know more? Click here to find out more.
An important anecdote!
On July 22, 1944, an illustrious visitor in the person of Colonel Berger (alias André Malraux). The FFI Inspector General met Veny maquis leaders here for lunch, before setting off again at around 3pm in a traction vehicle that was ambushed in Gramat. Arrested by the Gestapo, he was interrogated and incarcerated in Toulouse's Saint Michel prison.
Our advice:
Continue on the car circuit that passes at the foot of the site: Les panoramas du Ségala!
