Abstract EN:

In the rouergue, saint geniez d'olt held one of the most important places commercially speaking, before the french revolution of 1789. There are numerous documents and material testimonies still subsist making this old city very popular with tourists. The religious imbuing which used to be particularly strong in this region, has left a deep imprint upon the natives. This explains why we frequently encounter places of worship, hermitages, monasteries ans couvents. Saint geniez had to face the driff from rural areas, especially since the destruction of the vineyards at the end of the 19 th century, but also because of the lack of communication routes with the out side world. Its commercial activities were thus reduced to nothing. But the introduction of the strawberry, planted on a large scale on the hillsides permitted the town to be designed as "the city of strawberries". This brough back a revical of the commercial activities.