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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Fourques Castle, located in the Gard en Occitanie, is a medieval building whose first written mention dates back to 1070, in an agreement between Raymond de Saint-Gilles and Aicard d'Arles concerning the restitution of part of the castle. This document attests to its existence as early as the 11th century, although low remains of the west facade could date from the Roman era, suggesting an anterior castella transformed into a fortified mansion.

From a rectangular plane with four square towers at the corners, the castle was surrounded by a ditch crossed by a drawbridge. Its creneled walls, destroyed during the Revolution in 1792, housed guard rooms with d'archères. A 15th-century well, surmounted by a basket handle arch, remains in the central courtyard. Since 1810, the Boissy d'Anglas family has owned it, with its current name.

Ranked a historical monument on 13 September 1913, the castle illustrates medieval defensive architecture, with reshuffles in the 15th and 17th centuries. Its strategic location, at the crossroads of the Aurelian (to Rome) and Domitian (to the Pyrenees), highlights its historical role in the exchange and protection of the territory. The towers, partially dismantled, were covered with vaults in the 17th century, while a house body was added in the 15th century against the north wall.

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