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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de Lacassagne, located in Saint-Avit-Frandat in the Gers, is a building whose construction spanned from the 13th to the 19th century. Originally, it consists of a medieval tower-room (XIIIth century), around which are gradually adding architectural elements: a round tower housing a staircase, then two round towers framing the central body in the 17th century. The whole is covered with a broken roof, typical of Mansart influence, and a balcony connects the towers to the eighteenth century. The English park, created in the 17th century, completes the landscape.

The main room of the castle is the Hall of the Knights of Malta, arranged between 1620 and 1640 by Jean-Bertrand de Luppé, knight of the order of St John of Jerusalem. This room reproduces, on an adapted scale, the hall of the council of the great masters of the Magistral Palace of La Valette (Malta). The fourteen murals, executed by Italian artists, represent the Grand See of Malta (1565) and are inspired by the original frescoes by Matteo Pérez d'Aleccio. The woodwork, panelling and painted beams, decorated with allegorical motifs and views of Malta, make this an exceptional testimony, especially since the original Maltese room was damaged during the Second World War.

The castle remained in the family of Luppé from 1582 until a recent time. In the 19th century, a west wing and commons (1850) were added, delimiting the court. Ranked a historic monument in 1980, the site protects its facades, roofs, as well as the Hall of the Knights of Malta and its decor. Orangery and the commons complete this architectural ensemble, today private property.

The name Lacassagne comes from the cassanha gascon ("chênaie"), evoking a place planted with oaks. Historical images vary (La Cassaigne, Lacassaigne), but current usage has frozen the spelling. The castle thus illustrates the architectural evolution over six centuries, mixing medieval heritage, classical influences and Baroque decorations, while maintaining a unique link with the history of the Order of Malta.

The documentary value of the Hall of the Knights of Malta is reinforced by the differences between the canvases of Lacassagne and the original frescoes of Valette, partially destroyed. The paintings include a view of La Valette absent from the originals but present in the engravings of d-Aleccio (1582), suggesting indirect reproduction. Other copies of this cycle exist, such as those of the Greenwich Maritime Museum, attributed to d'Aleccio himself.

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