Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Loubatières Castle, located in Pézenas in the Hérault, has its origins at the end of the 15th century with a squared construction around a closed courtyard, including a flat bedside chapel and a polygonal staircase tower defended by a steeple. A second round, probably added by Jacques de Pavie in the early 16th century, completes the east wing. In the 17th century, the house was reoriented towards the east, on the garden side, and a gate adorned with scrolled windows and wingers was erected, reflecting a modernization campaign.

In the 18th century, the owners, the family of Roquessol, marked the castle with their imprint: an elegant ironwork replaced the wooden vantals of the gate, a libertine inscription decorated the first courtyard, and gypsum shops decorated the interior, including the chapel. This place, both hunting and discreet retreat, illustrates an epic art of living. The estate, originally owned by Pavia's family (notaries and king's counselors), passed to the Mourcairol at the beginning of the seventeenth century, then to the Roquemonts, before being acquired in 1725 by Jean d'Audiffret, king's adviser, and finally by Barthélémy de Mestre de Roquessol in 1769.

The site of Lubataria (place haunted by wolves) is mentioned as early as 1013 in the cartular of Gellone Abbey. The seigneury, linked to a barn, belonged for a long time to Pavia, before the connétable de Montmorency n The castle, classified as a Historic Monument in 2005, preserves its old building, its courtyards, basements, garden with pavilion, and a table of gypseries in the chapel.

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