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Origin and history

The castle of Carennac, located in the eponymous village of Occitanie, is a building whose current structure dates mainly from the sixteenth century. It is also known as Eyrolle house or Gaucher house, perhaps reflecting past owners or uses. One of its architectural peculiarities is a large broken arcade, without a chamfer, opening on the ground floor of the main body. This arcade could go back to a 15th century work campaign, before the major construction of the next century.

A square staircase tower, characteristic of the houses of that time, is placed at the junction between the main body and a wing in return. This type of development illustrates the aesthetic and functional concerns of Renaissance residential buildings. The building was partially protected by a classification order in 1938, specifically covering its facades and roofs, attesting to its heritage interest.

The monument is part of a regional context where the noble or bourgeois houses of the 16th century often played a central role in local life, serving as both a residence, a place of power and sometimes a symbol of prestige. In Quercy, as elsewhere in Occitanie, these homes reflected the social and economic dynamics of their time, between agriculture, commerce and seigneurial or ecclesiastical administration.

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