Suggestions for educational and recreational itineraries around the fortified town The cultural potential of the bastide of Vianne is to the fore in local representatives’ thoughts. First of all, the quality of the Romanesque church of the pre-existing town justifies its presence in the network of Romanesque art, created thanks to an initiative at European level. This church is the link between the original Romanesque town and the new gothic town, and between sacred and profane places. The geometrical drawing of the bastide shows the main criteria of town planning in the Middle Ages which surged through western Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. The network of these towns which should be created, will transform Vianne into an unforgettable landmark along an itinerary which takes in towns from Aragon, Lombardy, the Hanseatic League, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. These drawings, usually structured like chess-boards, as the one of Vianne is, give an “in situ” demonstration of the influence of political will in the organisation of space. Whatever the age or preoccupations of the visitors may be, reality and virtuality are present in the pedagogic and recreational identification of the bastide. At the centre of this drawing, the square is the object of thoughts on the social structure, on the means for economic development, on the detailed survey and on the evolution of the town through the ages (disappearance of the covered market and the roofs). As the centre of economic and political power, the emblematic dimension of this space refers to the four corners of the bastide and to the erudite drawings of the “architects” of the Middle Ages. The wall surrounding the town, made necessary because of large-scale conflicts, gives a precise idea of the problems of war and makes Vianne the prototype of medieval military architecture. The clarity of the problem linked to protection of housing is even more evident, since the bastide had been created as an “open town” - open to all kinds of people and goods (which perfectly reflects its structure with four orthogonal axes and four main streets) and its enclosure had consequences in terms of defensive priorities (four gates instead of eight). The learned and pedagogic analysis of the defence systems represented by the tower-gates or the wall walks, offers a wide range of itineraries which have been selected and commented on. The Baïse, which played its role in the town’s foundation, offers a large number of trails for discovery. Navigation of the river, which is now possible again, clearly shows the economic and technical aspects of the locks, the mills and the wash-houses. Locating the mill on one of the axes which give the town its structure, in relation to the market square, gives a good idea of everything that can influence town planning. The history of navigation, fishing, transport and social life, show that the Baïse can be a key element in tomorrow’s life as it was in yesterday’s, with the creation of a tourist harbour and its relationship with summer night markets. At long last the railway station, which was the last construction built in the 19th century and which at that time gave people and goods (glassmaking) the possibility of travelling all over the region and reaching international markets (exports to north America), has been brought to life again today, after a period of forced inactivity. An unexpected supportive element to the Network of the Arts of Fire, the glassmakers have settled in the bastide together with other craftsmen (engraving and stained glass) and have become the emblem of techniques and materials that fire makes mythical. The glassworks, in the vicinity of the bastide, and just like another small town, takes part in the universal process of promoting glass products, is open to visitors and is reason for reflection. This is the potential offered by the bastide of Vianne, within a framework of reflection on and implementation of European tourist routes. Here history is open to everyone: the populations, town planning, military architecture, as well as the economy and society of the Middle Ages, in the same way as the artistic creation and know-how of these new craftsmen who today extend the creative and voluntary spirit of these new towns of Europe.