Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Salvetat-Saint-Gilles came into being at the end of the 11th century, when Raymond IV of Toulouse (known as Raymond de Saint-Gilles) erected a castrum between 1088 and 1096 to protect Toulouse from attacks from the west. This first building, now extinct, served as an observation post on a plateau overlooking the Aussonnelle River at an altitude of 90 metres. Raymond IV, who left for the First Crusade in 1096, also founded a village under the status of saviour (place of refuge) dependent on the abbey of Saint-Gilles, hence his name. After his victory in Tripoli, he built another castle, but no remains of the 11th century remained in La Salvetat.

The buildings visible today mainly date from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the castle was rebuilt as a fortified residence. In the 15th century, after the extinction of the lineage of the Counts of Toulouse, the seigneury passed into the hands of the Tourneur family (or Tournier), then in 1483 to Nicolas Fesquet, a rich Toulouse merchant. The latter transforms the interior courtyard in Renaissance style: L-shaped pavilions, terraces, niche facades, and arcade galleries (loggias) decorated with stencil-painted ceilings (flowers, animals, landscapes). Two campanile turrets, typical of Toulouse architecture, then frame the facade.

In the 18th century, the castle underwent major changes: the facades were redesigned according to the tastes of the era, elegant gables and a raised dungeon of 20 meters were added, while windows were condemned to avoid tax on doors and windows. In 1729 Nicolas Célès de Reversat de Marsac became its owner for 65,000 pounds. His grandson, Count Pierre Emmanuel de Reversat, guillotined in 1794, saw the estate sold as Bien National during the Revolution. The castle then changed hands several times in the 19th and 20th centuries, suffering degradations (the collapse of the south wall in 1880, storm Klaus in 2010) and transformations (a crenellated roof in 1924, central heating in 1936).

Ranked Historic Monument in 2007, the castle was acquired by the city in 2016 after decades of unsuccessful sales (1950, 1960, 2006). Since 2019, restoration work has been carried out with the support of the State (DRAC), the Occitanie Region, the Haute-Garonne Department, and the Lotto du Patrimoine. The roofs are rebuilt thanks to a donation of tiles by the local company Terréal, and the west wing, collapsed, is rebuilt. In the long run, the project aims to open the castle to the public for visits and cultural events, while preserving its 13th century defensive elements (south coast) and Renaissance decorations (galeries, stencils).

The castle also played a historic role during the plague epidemics: in 1147, the Capitouls (Toulousan magistrates) took refuge there with the population, as in 1481, when Lauret and his company found asylum there. These episodes illustrate its importance as a place of protection and power in the region, from the Middle Ages to modern times.

External links