Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Buzet-sur-Baïse found its origins in the 11th century, when Sanche de Gascogne (1009-1032) fortified an existing residence to make it a castellam, mentioned in a charter as an estate with church, farmhouses and lands. This strategic site, located near the French-English border, was shared between two co-teachers in the 13th century, the Rovignan and Piis families, before being looted and burned in 1293-1294 by English soldiers, an event that triggered the Guyenne War. The oldest remains of the present castle date back to the reconstruction of the late 13th or early 14th century.

In the 14th century, Berard d'Albret bought the seigneury in 1385, uniting seigneurial power and ending the coexistence of the two castles. The site, spared by the major conflicts of the Hundred Years' War despite its border position, passed into the hands of the Noaillan in the 15th century, then of the Grossolles in the 16th century. The latter, notably Antoine de Grossolles, made the castle their main residence and undertook important work, such as the addition of an octagonal tower housing a staircase with screws and painted ceilings decorated with symbols inspired by Italian scholar Andrea Alciat.

The 17th century marked a turning point with the death of Antoine Agésilas de Grossolles in 1652, the last active resident lord, leaving the castle progressively empty until the renovations of the 1760s-1780s. Agésilas-Joseph de Grossolles then transformed the medieval castral village into an Anglo-Chinese park, demolishing houses and walls to create alleys, an orange grove, and exotic factories like a pagoda, with the help of renowned Parisian artisans. The French Revolution spared the castle by a procedural debate on its classification, but the park was neglected after the death of Alfred de Noailles in 1895.

In the 20th century, the castle experienced an accelerated decline: looted during the Second World War by German troops, then abandoned by the Italian owners Kröss, it suffered arson in 1969 destroying a wing. Saved in extremis by inhabitants in 1972, it was partially restored before being acquired in 2018 by the Cave of Winemakers of Buzet. Today, it preserves elements classified as 17th century painted ceilings and the round tower of the park, witnesses to its seigneurial and architectural past.

The ancient parish church, dated from the 13th and 16th centuries, was transformed into a private chapel by Alfred de Noailles after the collapse of his nave in 1849. Its bell tower-porch and polygonal bedside, decorated with details like a carved salamander, evoke the ties with the family Grossolles de Flamarens. The park, once the heart of a medieval village of thirty families, preserves only ruins and the cottage pavilion, the last vestige of 18th century amenities.

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