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Origin and history

The castle of Lustrac, located in Trentels in Lot-et-Garonne, was originally built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries to control a dam and a mill on the Lot, built by Foulques de Lustrac in 1296. This defensive system, including a chivalry tower with characteristic trilobed bays, was used to monitor the river and collect tolls, milling and fishing fees. These incomes contributed to the social upsurge of the Lustrac family, which became one of the most powerful in the Ages.

Between the end of the 15th and the middle of the 16th century, Antoine I of Lustrac gave the castle its present configuration, with a quadrilateral flanked by square towers and heterogeneous housing bodies. The site, mentioned in 1259 as the Castrum de Monfavès (without formal proof), was strengthened in 1372 by Bernard de Lustrac thanks to a grant from the Duke of Anjou. The castle, besieged on several occasions, passed to the families of Masparrault, Lespinette-Le-Mairat, then Garrisson in the 17th century, before being unfurled during the Revolution.

In the 19th century, the castle was acquired by Joseph Meynot, former mayor of Agen, who installed a sawmill there in 1914. Abandoned and then redeemed between 1963 and 1973, it was completely restored, with tower elevation. Ranked Historic Monument in 1988, the site now includes the castle, mill, lock and village, protected since 1982 for their heritage and landscape value.

The architecture mixes limestone, brick and wooden panels, with an inner courtyard accessible by a portal dating from 1651. The oldest southwest tower has brick covers, while the main house, backed by a courtine, retains defensive elements like a round road. The half-timbers of the west wing, organized in the cross-of-Saint-André, bear witness to the developments of the 15th–12th centuries.

Lustrac's family, anobligated in 1514, was divided into three branches (Canabazes, Losse, Lias-d'Armagnac) and played a major role in the local nobility. Naudonnet de Lustrac, captain during the Hundred Years' War, and Antoine I, who modernized the castle, illustrate his influence. The estate, linked to prestigious alliances (Durfort, Pompadour), passed by inheritance and successive sales before becoming a private property open to the visit.

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