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Origin and history

The Château de Pomas, located on a hill of the same name village in Aude, is a vast quadrilateral marked by three 16th century round turrets and a square tower probably from the 14th century. Its architecture combines military functions (cruciform archères, hords) and residential functions, as evidenced by a French painted ceiling on the first floor, formerly decorated with 180 metopes today degraded or stolen. The building, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1948 and 1987 for its ceiling, reflects successive changes, including a reduced inner courtyard in the 17th or 18th century.

The first mention of the castrum of Pomaribus dates from 1319, but a first castle could exist from the twelfth century, linked to lay lords like Ponce de Pomars. In the 15th century, the Rabot family, anobliated in 1455, became the owner and ordered the painted ceilings. The castle played a political role during the Wars of Religion: in 1589 and 1590 it welcomed the deputies drafting the articles of the Trier of Labourage. Passed into the hands of the Neighbors in the 16th century, then confiscated during the Revolution, it was sold as national property to a Carcassonne printer, Raymond Hérisson, before changing several times owners in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The archaeological study of 2008 reveals a complex organization, with a fortified castral village and a distant parish church (Saint-Julien and Sainte-Basilisse), symbolizing the coexistence of seigneurial and ecclesiastical powers. The castle, initially accessible by a drawbridge, preserves silos, rare archères in the Aude, and interior decorations (stuces of the eighteenth century, monumental chimneys). The painted ceilings, divided into metopes illustrating coats of arms, animals and plant motifs, are attributed to Antoine Rabot (Lord around 1490). Their partial flight and degradation underscore the challenges of preserving this heritage.

Major transformations include the addition of a quadrangular tower in the 16th century, the overhaul of the interior elevations (some rebuilt after a supposed fire), and the development of a gallery in the 17th century. The court, once larger, is now bounded by a parpaing wall. Despite losses (crash of the staircase in the screw, disappearance of the floors), the castle retains unique defensive elements, such as cruciform archères with circular base, and traces of seigneurial life (latrines, cellars, halls of appearance).

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