Lavillatte (French pronunciation: [lavilat]; Occitan: La Vilata) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. It is in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Inhabitants are known as Viallatins and Viallatines.
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L'Auberge rouge is an inn, originally named L'Auberge de Peyrebeille, in the commune of Lanarce in Ardèche, bordering Issanlas and Lavillatte. In the 19th century, it was the site of a notorious French criminal scandal known as "the Red Inn affair." In 1831, after a customer, Jean-Antoine Enjolras, was found dead by a nearby river with his skull smashed in, the owners of the inn, Pierre and Marie Martin, and their employee, Jean Rochette, were arrested and eventually charged with his murder. During the subsequent trial, numerous witnesses testified to other crimes committed by the accused, including up to fifty murders at the inn, and to aggravating circumstances of rape and cannibalism. There were rumours that the owners used to serve their intended victims meals containing cooked body parts of previous victims. The accused were only convicted of the murder of Enjolras, and were sentenced to death. They were executed by guillotine in front of the inn, with a crowd of 30,000 on-lookers.
Subsequent scholars have raised doubts about the integrity of the trial. Today, the inn is a tourist attraction.
5.2 km
Issanlas is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
6.2 km
Pradelles is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France Association.
6.8 km
Coucouron is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.
7.5 km
Saint-Paul-de-Tartas is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France.