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Origin and history

The Castle of the Counts of Armagnac, located in Lectoure (Gers), is a castle occupying the western end of the city, built on an almost inexpugable rocky spur. Its origins date back at least to the Romanesque era, contemporary of the ramparts of Lectoure. It was the residence of the Counts of Armagnac until 1473, when John V of Armagnac, the last count, died there during the capture of the city by Louis XI. The castle, then the residence of governors and senechaux, underwent defensive changes, including a circular bastion and then a polygonal work inspired by Vauban. Its isolation was reinforced by ramparts and a false bray, making it accessible only via the fortified city in the east or a closely monitored northern poterne.

In 1632, the castle welcomed the Duke of Montmorency, governor of Languedoc imprisoned after his revolt against Louis XIII. A local legend, historically undocumented, tells that residents of Lectoure would have sent him a silk ladder hidden in a cake to facilitate his escape. According to a contemporary source (Simon Ducros, 1699), a project of escape via the latrines of the castle, organized with the Marquise of Castelnau, failed after the death of the guard accomplice. Montmorency, injured and weakened by 17 injuries sustained in Castelnaudary, was finally executed in Toulouse. This episode gave its name to the alleys at the foot of the ramparts.

In the 18th century, Bishop Claude-François de Narbonne-Pelet obtained from the king the concession of the castle in 1758 to build a manufacture hospital, meeting the growing needs of the population. The project, launched in 1759, was designed to replace the small short-lived hospitals in Lectoure, originally designed for pilgrims, with a modern facility combining care and workshops for the poor. Only the first building (north wing) was completed before the funds were exhausted. The hospital was finally completed during the Empire (1808-1812), with the addition of a chapel decorated by the painter Lasseran and the care of the sick by the Sisters of Nevers until the 1960s.

The remains of the castle, visible to the west, reveal its imposing defensive structure: walls on limestone cliffs, square bastion restored in 2015, and traces of the houses behind the ramparts. Access was via a north gate protected by a false bray, while a half moon and a ditch isolated the city castle. Partial destruction in the 18th century for the hospital preserved key elements, such as the base of a polygonal tower in the inner courtyard and a small adjoining cemetery, offering a gazebo on the Gers plain.

The hospital, in a classic U-shaped style, is distinguished by its arches in the middle of the hanger, its forebody with triangular pediment surmounted by a clock, and its chapel with semicircular apse. The basement housed a vaulted gallery dedicated to workshops for needy, reflecting the ideal of Enlightenment combining charity and social utility. The decommissioning of hospital services in 2013 led the municipality to convert the site to an exhibition site for antique dealers and brokers, while preserving its status as a Historic Monument (registered in 2016).

Historical sources underline the ambiguity surrounding certain events, such as Montmorency's attempt to escape, while architectural changes (destruction of the bastion in 1660, construction of the hospital) are well documented. The site thus illustrates the evolution of a medieval fortress into a major civilian equipment, witness to the social and urban changes of Lectoure from the 16th to the 19th century.

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