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Origin and history

The castle of Cambiac, located in the eponymous village of Haute-Garonne (Occitanie), has its origins at the end of the 15th century. It was probably rebuilt on the foundations of an earlier building, as evidenced by the flamboyant Gothic-style sill windows and pinacles preserved in its northern part. This first building belonged to a certain Milhau, a connetable of the Montauban region appointed by Marguerite de Navarre, before being partially destroyed in 1582 during the religious wars by the troops of the Duke of Turenne.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the castle passed into the hands of the lords of Cambiac and Montaucel, notably after the marriage of André de Puybusque with Marguerite Gaston de Cambiac in 1741. The property then changed family by successive alliances: the Milhau in 1847 (via the marriage of Marie Gabrielle Gaston de Cambiac with Jean Jacques de Milhau), then the Puy-Montbrun around 1900. Count Raymond de Milhau, Mayor of Cambiac, lived there until his death in 1889.

The present castle is the result of two major construction phases. The northern part, dating from the 15th century, is a rare example of flamboyant Gothic architecture in Lauragais. In the 19th century, important works added an additional floor, a quadrangular tower, and a historicist Louis XII decor, both on the facades and inside. The park, supplemented by an 18th-century orangery and a 19th-century well, houses two trees classified as "remarkable" by the department.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2001, the Castle of Cambiac illustrates the architectural evolution of a seigneurial residence, from religious wars to the historicist restoration of the Second Empire. Its state of conservation makes it possible to observe the superpositions of styles, from the late Middle Ages to the late nineteenth century.

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