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Origin and history

The castle of Berlats, located in the Tarn in Occitanie, is a medieval building erected in the 13th century. It is said to have been built by Beyne's family, established in the area after the marriage of Augustin de Beyne and Isabelle d'Escroux in 1242. This family, entitled lords of Escroux and Berlats, seems to have possessed the castle and its seigneury.

During the wars of Religion in the 16th century, the castle, then in the hands of a Catholic lord, was besieged by Huguenot troops. On 5 June 1569 Captain Ferrières and his men, reinforced by Castres guns, stormed the fortress after five days of siege. The thirty defenders were killed, and the castle was looted and shaved. It was rebuilt in the 17th century as a master house.

In the 18th century, the estate belonged to the family of Durand de Bonne de Senegats, with members such as Jean-Louis de Durand (1720) or Augustin de Durand (1745), the latter being Protestant. The French Revolution left traces, including a sharp tower. The castle, surrounded by a 29-hectare estate, also housed a stud, the only one of the Tarn still active today.

Architecturally, the castle consists of a three-storey square house body, topped by a croup roof, and flanked by a semicircular tower to the west. Although soberly decorated, it preserves traces of its medieval and modern past, despite its degraded state.

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