Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Peyrat-le-Château consists mainly of a gate tower built at the end of the 15th century, the last vestige of the urban enclosure of Peyrat. With a square plan and raised on five levels (including a cellar), this tower features south and north facades pierced by a broken arched door and windows on each floor. A screw staircase, illuminated by superimposed bays, is integrated into the thickness of the southwest wall. The western facades house two corbelled latrines. Inside, the tower retains its original layout: a granite paved room on the first floor, exposed beamed ceilings, fireplaces on the three floors, dust windows and corner latrines.

A body of 16th century rectangular houses, backed by a fragment of the old wall of enclosure, completes the whole. Redesigned in the 18th century, it communicates with the tower through the cellars and the first floor, although its interior distributions have been modified by modern arrangements. The gate tower and facades/roofs of the house have been protected since 1995 as Historic Monuments. The site now belongs to the commune of Peyrat-le-Château.

The gate tower illustrates the defensive architecture of the late Middle Ages, with functional elements (latrines, spiral staircases, chimneys) typical of the military and residential buildings of the period. The house of the sixteenth century, though transformed, bears witness to the evolution of domestic needs in the Renaissance, marking the transition from a purely defensive vocation to a more residential use. The inscription in the Historical Monuments in 1995 highlights the heritage value of this ensemble, mixing medieval heritage and subsequent adaptations.

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