Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The 10 Houses of the Basilica of Tillac are a rare example of a medieval bastide reduced to a single street, built in the 15th century. In contrast to the traditional dazier bastids, this village is limited to a main artery connecting two fortified gates, reflecting a simplified urban organization but characteristic of the small late foundations. The houses, aligned on both sides of this road, have an architectural uniformity marked by their wooden structure.

The structure of the houses rests on square oak poles, equipped with carved consoles bearing sandstones. The latter receive beams from the single floor floor, illustrating an economic and rapid constructive technique, typical of the gascon bastides. The ensemble, classified as Historical Monument by decree of 6 January 1926, bears witness to the local adaptations of medieval urban models in less densely populated territories.

The location of Tillac, in the present Gers department in Occitanie, is in a historical context marked by the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). The late foundation of this bastide, in the 15th century, suggests an effort of repopulation or post-conflict territorial control, in an area where the older bastides (XIII-XIV centuries) often had a strategic role. The lack of a central place and the simplicity of the plan may reflect limited resources or a primarily agricultural vocation for its inhabitants.

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