Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château des Tours-Saint-Laurent, also known as the Château de Saint-Céré, is a medieval fortress built on a rocky piton overlooking the valley of the Bave, near Saint-Céré, in the present Occitanie region. Its origins date back to Roman antiquity, as evidenced by archaeological remains (arms, coins) dated to the reign of Augustus. In the 7th century, a first building was built by the seigneur Serenus, giving birth to the village of Sanctus Serenus, ancestor of Saint-Laurent-les-Tours. The fortress became a strategic issue, controlled for eight centuries by the Viscounts of Turenne, before passing under royal rule in 1738.

In the 12th century, the Viscount Raimon II of Turenne erected the "little tower" (1178), a symbol of its power in the south of the Viscount. The castle, in turn French or English possession during the Hundred Years War, was strengthened in the 14th century by the "great tower" (1390), built after the departure of the English. The Wars of Religion (XVI century) saw the site pass into the hands of Protestants before being taken over by Catholics. In the 19th century, the medieval mansion, in ruins, was rebuilt in a neo-medieval style by Lafon du Verdier (1895).

During the Second World War, the towers housed Radio Quercy, an underground station of the Resistance (1944), broadcasting information within a 60 km radius without being detected. In 1943, the painter Jean Lurçat acquired the site and installed his workshop there, transforming the house into a unique artistic place decorated with tapestries, paintings and ceramics. After his death (1966), his widow Simone Lurçat ceded the castle to the Lot department (1986), on condition of preserving the works. Ranked as a Historic Monument in 1889, the site now houses the Jean Lurçat workshop-museum, labeled Maisons des Illustres.

Architecturally, the castle consists of two square dungeons: the "small tower" (28 m, 13th century), with thick walls and flat buttresses, and the "large tower" (35 m, 15th century), with a chapel and mâchicoulis. The house, rebuilt in the 19th century, preserves medieval remains, while the ramparts, reinforced during the Wars of Religion, circle the whole. The excavations and restorations (notably in 2011-2012) have made it possible to highlight this heritage, a witness to Quercy's military, political and artistic history.

External links