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Origin and history

Valon Castle, built in the 11th century on a promontory overlooking the valley of Truyère, is an ancient castle today in ruins. Located at Lacroix-Barrez in Aveyron, Occitanie, it was a strategic point during the Hundred Years War. In 1378, the lord bandit Aymerigot Marchès seized to loot the area before being executed in 1387. The castle was then returned to the Viscount of Carlat, John III d'Armagnac, marking the end of the English occupation.

Several noble families succeeded in Valon over eight centuries. The de Valon, vassals of the Viscounts of Carlat, gave the seigneury to Peyre in the 13th century. By marriage, the castle passed to the Rollands (XIVth–XVIth centuries), including Aymeric Rolland, governor of the Papal States, and Jacques Rolland, the last male heir. In the 16th century, the Chaumeil and then the Fontanges became owners, before the Verdier and Bancarel succeeded until the 18th century.

Built in schist bellows, the castle included a scauguette dungeon, a closed foreyard and mâchicoulis. Abandoned after the Revolution, he deteriorated rapidly: his roofs collapsed around 1845, and his stones were reused by the inhabitants. In the 20th century, architect Jean-Louis Fougerousse saved him from ruin by consolidating the dungeon. Since 2003, the Carladez Community of Municipalities has been carrying out restoration work, opening the site to the public.

The castle illustrates the medieval defensive architecture of the Rouergue, with a history marked by feudal conflicts and family alliances. Its partly preserved dungeon remains the most emblematic vestige. Recent excavations and restorations aim to enhance this heritage, while revealing its role in local history, between seigneurial power and territorial issues.

Ranked a historic monument in 1925, Valon is a testimony of the struggles between local lords and French/English crowns. His occupation by Aymerigot Marches, a controversial figure of the Hundred Years War, made him a symbol of the troubles of the time. Proprietary families, such as the Rollands or the Verdier, left architectural and genealogical traces there, today studied to understand noble society rouergate.

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