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Origin and history

The Château de La Coste, located in Grézels in the Lot, has its origins in the 13th century. In 1267, an act confirmed that Bernard Ier Guiscard, participating in the Albigois Crusade, had received this fief from the bishop of Cahors, Guillaume de Cardaillac, more than forty years earlier. The castle, originally referred to as a "hotel" in 1286 and then as a "shelter" in 1301, became a military fortress under Philip VI in 1348. He was then entrusted to Bernard III Guiscard, who adapted him to the defensive needs of the Hundred Years' War.

During the Hundred Years' War, the castle of La Coste was attacked by English supporters, notably after the Battle of Poitiers (1356). The Treaty of Brétigny (1360) placed the Quercy under English rule, and the castle, under English allegiance between 1362 and 1372, remained in the hands of the Guiscard, vassals of the king of England. Bernard IV and Guillaume-Bertrand I, his descendants, played a key role in his management, despite repeated looting in the region. The castle was partially rebuilt at that time to strengthen its defences.

In the 16th century, the Guiscards, who remained Catholic, suffered the consequences of the Wars of Religion. In 1580, the castle was looted and partially destroyed by Protestants, becoming uninhabitable. John III of Guiscard, a convinced leaguer, inherits it before its ruin. Reconstruction began after 1595, but the family, weakened by banishment and confiscation (as in 1526), gradually lost its influence. In the 17th century, the Guiscards served in the royal armies, before the castle passed by marriage to the Durfort family in 1773.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the castle was seized as a national good and sold to private individuals. In the 19th century, it underwent partial demolitions, including a wing destroyed by a wine trader, Prady. After several changes of owners, including a restoration between 1960 and 1965 by Mr. and Mrs. Bacquié, he was finally bought in 1983 by Mr. and Mrs. Gervais Coppé, who undertook his safeguard. Ranked a historic monument in 1961 and 1997, it now bears witness to a turbulent history, between medieval conflicts and aristocratic heritages.

Architecturally, the castle of La Coste is presented as a square building flanked by four towers: two rectangular to the west and two round to the east, framing a house body once extended by two wings. The oldest parts, like the western towers, date from the 14th century, while the rest of the buildings are the result of the reconstructions of the 16th and 17th centuries. The house, organized on four levels (including vaulted rooms and a noble floor), retains a staircase with right core and medieval latrines in the towers. The south wing, demolished in the 19th century, illustrates the transformations suffered by the monument over the centuries.

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