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Origin and history

The Lioran Water Castle is a railway reservoir designed to supply steam locomotives at the Lioran station, located in the municipality of Lavissière, in the Cantal. Built between 1898 and 1903, it follows a model model reproduced several copies on the Figeac-Arvant line. This monument is distinguished by its cylindrical masonry tower, covered with an incertum opus apparatus and pierced with neo-Roman bays, surmounted by a wooden superstructure protecting a 100 m3 metal tank. Its architecture and function make it a unique testimony of the steam railway era in Auvergne.

This castle is the last remaining among those built on the line, after the destruction of similar tanks of Murat, Saint-Jacques-des-Blats and Vic-sur-Cère. Originally designed by engineer Wilhelm Nördling in 1867, it was restored in 1983 before being registered for historical monuments by order of 7 October 1991. Its piping system and its internal and external access scales illustrate the industrial techniques of the time. Disused after the abandonment of steam traction, it retains a major heritage value.

The base of the monument, in masonry, contrasts with its superstructure in overhang, barred with wooden boards to protect the tank from the weather. This mixture of materials (stone, wood, metal) reflects the functional and aesthetic constraints of the railway infrastructure of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its exceptional state of conservation makes it a subject of study for the history of transport and industrial architecture in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

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