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Origin and history

The door of Luzier is a 14th century fortified gate, the last witness of the ramparts of Beaumont-du-Périgord, a bastide founded in 1272 by Lucas de Thaney, Sénéchal of Guyenne, on behalf of King Edward I of England. It is part of a network of fortifications built around 1320 to protect the city, organized according to an orthogonal plan around a central square. The door, in slightly broken arch, once had niches, mâchicoulis and a harrow, from which the slides remain. It was surmounted by a round road and probably by a defensive chestnut, with gaps between the inner and outer enclosures.

Beaumont-du-Périgord, a strategic English bastide, was taken over by Pierre de Beaufort for the king of France in 1442. The city, besieged several times during the Wars of Religion (1561, 1575, 1576, 1585), gradually lost its ramparts in the 18th century, when the walls were sold to the residents. Only Luzier's gate escaped destruction, thanks to its classification as a historical monument in 1952. Its architecture reflects medieval military techniques, with a double opening (smooth exterior and crenellated interior) and defensive devices now partially disappeared.

Beaumont's foundation in 1272 was part of the policy of English colonization in Aquitaine, with a charter granted in 1286 by Édouard I. The city, surrounded by walls at the beginning of the 14th century, housed a church (Saint-Laurent-et-Saint-Front) and a shopping hall, a symbol of its economic role. Subsequent conflicts, including the Huguenot catches in the 16th century, marked its history before its definitive attachment to the crown of France under Louis XIV. Luzier's gate, today a communal property, bears witness to this turbulent past and to the perigord military architecture.

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