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Origin and history

The Tauzia Castle, located in Maignaut-Tauzia in Gers, is an emblematic building of the "gascon type", built in the early thirteenth century. Its name derives from Tauzin, designating the black oak, and it stands out from other homonymous castles, such as that of Gradignan in Gironde. Although mentioned for the first time in 1362 under the property of Menaud de Barbazan, its origins date back to the local lords attested from the twelfth century, who made it their fortified residence.

In 1479, the family of Barbazan ceded the castle, its lands and outbuildings to Jean de Marestang, the youngest son of the Viscount of Cogotois, marking the beginning of a long family possession. For nearly two centuries, more than ten generations of Marestang followed each other, including John II, who modernized the building in the 16th century: he replaced the archères with sill windows and added a circular staircase on the south-west facade, reflecting the influence of the Italian wars.

An arbitration in 1595 divided the seigneury: Savaric de Marestang inherited the "little Tauzia", which he left at his death in 1636 to Guillaume de Boyer, brother-in-law of Jean de Marestang. In 1640, Guillaume de Marestang sold the castle to Hector de Gelas, Marquis de Leberon, who abandoned him after five years. Damaged during the Fronde, the castle fell into ruins despite an attempt to acquire in 1665 by Joseph Savarin of Marestang, prevented by the scale of the necessary works. It then passed into the hands of the family of La Forcade du Pin until the 19th century.

Ranked a historic monument in 1932 (now decommissioned), the castle is characterized by a rectangular body flanked by two towers, including a square protecting the entrance. Inside, divided by a split wall in the 16th century, lost its staircase in the 19th century. The ruins, private and non-visitable, bear witness to its architectural evolution, between medieval defense and Renaissance adaptations, before its progressive decline.

The southern façade, pierced by sills around 1500, illustrates this stylistic transition. A visible breach marks the location of the old staircase, destroyed after the abandonment of the site. Today, owned by Jean Immer, a retired farmer, the castle remains a major vestige of the gascon heritage, studied by historians such as Philippe Lauzun or Jacques Gardelles, who emphasize its role in local history and its architecture representative of the castles of the region.

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