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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de la Garde Guérin, located in Prévanches en Lozère, is a medieval castrum whose square dungeon, 21.50 meters high, dates from the 12th century. This dungeon, unique in the region by its bossing apparatus, was surrounded by a seigneurial house rebuilt in the 16th century but destroyed by a fire in 1722. The current remains include the tower, the ruins of the house, and the route of the ramparts, with still visible ditches. The site was naturally protected by the Chassezac and the escarpments, being accessible only by the Regordane way, a historic road linking Provence to Languedoc and Auvergne.

Originally, in the 12th century, the castle was used as a den for robbers who skimmed the Regordan way, before being rehabilitated by the Bishop of Mende. He set up a militia of noble betting men to keep order on this trade route. In the 13th century, these nobles formed a sort of local police force. The castle, composed of several towers owned by different lords, was partially destroyed during a fire in 1362 by the English. He continued to play a strategic role during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, before declining: a fire in 1722 ravaged much of the buildings, and a tower collapsed in 1795.

The castle was girded with a double or triple enclosure, with carved sandstone walls and mâchicoulis added between the 13th and 14th centuries. The main tower, accessible by an elevated door, had three vaulted floors connected by hatches. A vaulted tank supplied the site with water. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1929, the castle is now owned by the municipality of Prévanches. Its ruins, including the dungeon and remains of the ramparts, recall its past as a fortress controlling a major axis of the Middle Ages.

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