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Origin and history

The château de Goulens, located in Layrac in Lot-et-Garonne, is a plain castle dating back to the 13th century with the family of Goulens, followed by the Carbonneau family. The present building was built in the 16th century, and then deeply marked by revolutionary destructions, including the beheading of its three towers (two rounds and one octagonal), feudal symbols being slaughtered. The remains of this period include a preserved northern facade, with its snout windows and its original entrance door, while the communes, established to the north, delimit an inner courtyard.

In 1689, Claude de Barbier de La Serre (1636–99), the king's adviser to the court of the Aides of Guienne, acquired the castle for 20,000 pounds per stop of the Toulouse parliament. The property remained in his family until 2021. After the revolutionary degradations, a major restoration was undertaken around 1878 by the Bordeaux architect Gustave Alaux (1816–82), disciple of Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. The latter reconstructs two of the towers by adding slots and hurdles, while retaining defensive elements such as an old door with breeches, transformed into a dovecote. The interior decoration, including tapestries of Aubusson (early 17th century), wallpapers, and fantastic sculptures, testify to this work of beautification.

The castle was partially listed as historical monuments in 1921 for its living room and small office, decorated with marouflé canvases. A wing of the castle, still inhabited, is now rented as tourist accommodation. Sources also mention links to a line of defence linking the Garonne to the Pyrenees, although its initial membership (Teachers of Carboneau or Abbey of Fontevrault) remains uncertain according to the texts.

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