Route des Seigneurs du Rouergue
Château de Belcastel
The Château de Belcastel is situated above the north bank of the Aveyron River, downstream from Rodez. The oldest part of the castle was constructed in the 9th century, and it grew in the hands of the Belcastel family. Later, for many decades, it was the seat of the famed Saunhac family. The famous French architect Fernand Pouillon (1912-1986) discovered the castle in ruins in 1974. Pouillon decided to reconstruct the f ...
Founded: 9th century AD |
Location:
Belcastel, France
Château de Sévérac
The Château de Sévérac is a 13th century castle which was restored in the 18th century. The castle site has belonged to several families: the Sévéracs, Armagnacs, and Arpajons. The latter built a Renaissance style castle whose south face can still be seen. Visitors today can see ramparts, walls, watch towers, the chapel and kitchen, in which demonstrations of medieval cooking are given. An exhibition of medieval cos ...
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Sévérac-d'Aveyron, France
Château de Najac
Château de Najac was built in 1253 by the villagers on the orders of Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of king Louis IX of France. It was erected on the site of an older castle (a square tower) built in 1100. The inner bailey of the castle forms a rough rectangle, with the longest side about 40 meters long. Towers project from the South and North walls, and there are towers at each corner, including an earlier square t ...
Founded: 1253 |
Location:
Najac, France
Château de Bournazel
Château de Bournazel was built in the mid-16th century by Jean de Buisson. He replaced the older castle with Renaissance style residence. Today the gardens are added to the List of Remarkable Gardens of France.
Founded: 16th century |
Location:
Bournazel, France
Château de Montaigut
The first traces of the Château de Montaigut date from the 10th century. Built on a rocky outcrop dominating the valley of the Dourdou de Camarès river, it defended the town of Saint-Affrique against attacks from the south. Enlarged and transformed in the 15th century by the Blanc family, it was restored several times before falling into ruin. The castle was finally restored in 1989. The castle is built over a medie ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Gissac, France
Château de Brousse
Château de Brousse is large medieval fortress. It belonged to the Arpajon noble family from 1204 until 1700. The first known owners were counts of Rouergue in the 10th century. Today the castle is open to visitors. Among the beautiful fortifications there is a landscaped rose garden and an prehistoric megalith dating from around 3rd millenium BC.
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Brousse-le-Château, France
Château de Saint-Izaire
The Château de Saint-Izaire is a 14th-century episcopal castle. It is maintained by an association known as Vie et Château (Life and Castle), who have created a mini museum on the premises to record the history of the castle and the inhabitants of the village of Saint-Izaire. The castle is a massive quadrangular red stone building that shelters the town hall of the village of Saint-Izaire. The structure is supported ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Saint-Izaire, France
Château de Peyrelade
The Château de Peyrelade name is derived from the occitan 'Pèira Lada', meaning wide rock; an accurate description of the site. Objects found on the site suggest it was inhabited in prehistoric times. Thanks to its position controlling the entrance to the Gorges du Tarn, it was one of the most important castles in the Rouergue province. It existed at least as far back as the 12th century, and was the s ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Rivière-sur-Tarn, France
Château de Valon
Château de Valon offers a sumptuous panoramic view of the Gorges de la Truyère. Since the 12th Century, the feudal castle, built like an eagle"s nest on the rocky mound, has dominated the Gorges de la Truyère. This mediaeval site is classed as one of the most picturesque in the Aveyron. Traditional schist stone houses with lauze covered roofs overlook two magnificent valleys. The château is reputed for the tales ...
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Lacroix-Barrez, France
Château du Colombier
The square tower is the oldest part of the Château du Colombier but the exact date of construction is unknown. It was enlarged during the 13th and 14th centuries. In 2001-2002, the opening of the Hall of Frescos completed the tour of the chateau and allowed visitors to experience the refinement of its Renaissance decoration (XVI century)
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Salles-la-Source, France
Château de Calmont d'Olt
The Château de Calmont d"Olt is perched atop a basalt dyke. It provides a panoramic view of the Aubrac highlands. Flint fragments and a polished stone axe are evidence of occupation of the site for 5,000 years. The ministerium Calvomantese was first mentioned in 883, in documents from the Abbey at Conques. It has always had a military significance, commanding the road from Rodez to Aubrac and, more widely ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Espalion, France
Château de Peyrebrune
Château de Peyrebrune was the residence of Panat lords from the 11th to 15th centuries. The tower dates from the 15th century. In the 17th century the castle was demolished to punish Calvinist leaders.
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Alrance, France
Château de Coupiac
Dating from the 15th century, Château de Coupiac is formed by two T-shaped wings, built directly on the bare rock, flanked by three powerful round towers. These remaining towers show architectural differences, evidence of building over an extended period. Built in the flamboyant Gothic architecture, the castle impresses both in area and height, by the number of its machicolations, its latrines and its murder holes. It ...
Founded: 15th century |
Location:
Coupiac, France
Tour Hospitalière du Viala-du-Pas-de-Jaux
Tour Hospitalière du Viala-du-Pas-de-Jaux was a hospital with defensive tower erected by the order of Knights Hospitaller in 1430 to help and protect locals.
Founded: 1430 |
Location:
Viala-du-Pas-de-Jaux, France
Château du Bosc
Château du Bosc was founded in 1180 and rebuilt in the 15th century. Until the recent years it was always owned by the Bosc and Toulouse-Lautrec family. Thhe castle is open everyday of the year from 9am to 7pm. Guided tour of the reception rooms and bedroom, with memories of Lautrec as a child, and the family museum showing his artistic instinct. Temporary exhibitions in the château.
Founded: 1180 |
Location:
Camjac, France
Château de Saint-Beauzély
Château de Saint-Beauzély was mentioned first time in 1180 and it was largely altered in the late 16th century after been conquered in the French Wars of Religion. Today the castle hosts a small museum.
Founded: 12th century |
Location:
Saint-Beauzély, France
Château de Vézins
The Château de Vézins is a much-altered castle in the commune of Vézins-de-Lévézou. It has been in the possession of the Vézins family for 900 years. The first fortress was built in 1120 by Vesian de Vézins to command the Lévezou district. Following a disastrous fire in 1642, the only remains of this original castle are the vaulted rooms of the ground floor. The castle was then redeveloped in the Renaissance ...
Founded: 1120 |
Location:
Vézins-de-Lévézou, France
Château de Mélac
Château de Mélac is a rare fortified wealthy house of the southern Rouergue was built between the 14th and the 16th centuries. The castle has four main buildings which are interconnected by towers (Renaissance tower) and form an amazing inner courtyard with arcades. The castle forms a very contrasted ensemble because of its different architectural styles: exceptional interior courtyard with arcades supporting the galle ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Saint-Rome-de-Cernon, France
Lugan Commandry
The order of Knights Hospitaller founded a hospital (commanderie) in Lugan in 1180. It consists of a fortified house with four towers, chapel and adjacent buildings.
Founded: 1180 |
Location:
Lugan, France
Château d'Esplas
Château d"Esplas consists of a square form building with three round and one square tower. It dates to the 13th century. During the Hundred Years" War it was sieged by English army and reinforced in 1376. The newer buildings date from the 16th-17th centuries.
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Rebourguil, France