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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Occitanie
  4. Gers
  5. 32700 Lectoure

  6. The bishopric building occupied by the city hall and the museum

The bishopric building occupied by the city hall and the museum à Lectoure dans le Gers

Gers

The bishopric building occupied by the city hall and the museum

    14 Rue Fontelie
    32700 Lectoure
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Le bâtiment de lévêché occupé par lhôtel de ville et le musée
Crédit photo : Morburre - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1700
1800
1900
2000
1676-1682
Construction of the bishopric
1790
Sale as a national good
1801
Purchased by Jean Lannes
1819
Donation to the municipality
1820
Open to the public
2016
Historical Monument
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The episcopal ensemble, as represented on the plan annexed to the decree, by a red trait and a tint of red filling for the buildings inscribed in full, by a shade of green filling for the floors of the courtyard of honor and the ditch and for the gardens and by a red trait for the retaining walls and consisting of: the building of the bishopric, occupied by the city hall and the museum, in total (see CK 470); the building of outbuildings (former stables) to the west of the Cour d'honneur, occupied by the Tourist Office, in full (Box CK 471); the floor of the courtyard of honour, the ditch separating the courtyard of honour from the entrance to the city hall and the bridge over this ditch (Box CK 470); all the gardens and their support walls and all their base plots, excluding the basins and the building of the municipal swimming pool situated on Parcel 466 (Box CK 466, 470): inscription by order of 22 August 2016

Key figures

Hugues IV de Bar - Bishop of Lectoure Commander of the bishopric in 1676.
Jean Rabbé - Artisan-mason Co-builder of the palace with the Cruchons.
Jean Lannes - Marshal of Empire Owner in 1801, residence until 1809.
Louise de Guéhéneuc - Widow of Lannes Donna was bishop in Lectoure in 1819.
Eugène Camoreyt - Name of museum Museum installed in cellars.

Origin and history

The bishopric of Lectoure was built between 1676 and 1682 under the impulse of Bishop Hugues IV of Bar, replacing a modest building and a medieval cloister. The building, designed by local artisans such as Jean Labbé and the Cruchon brothers, is organized around a main body connected to Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais Cathedral. Its terraced gardens, offering a view of the Pyrenees, required the destruction of two islets of dwellings and the development of a ditch bordering Fontélie Street, below. The palace, symbol of episcopal power, also housed an orangery and outbuildings ( stables, accommodation for staff), all lined with fence walls.

At the Revolution, the bishopric was sold as a national property in 1790 and acquired by Marshal Jean Lannes in 1801 for 524,000 francs. After becoming his residence, the building was later transferred to the commune in 1819 by his widow, Louise de Guéhéneuc. By 1820 he hosted the town hall, the court, the sub-prefecture and a museum, while his gardens were converted into a public promenade, the Promenade des Marronniers. The architecture, marked by stone facades and richly decorated interiors (gypseries, marble fireplaces), reflects both its episcopal origin and its subsequent adaptations.

The building consists of two perpendicular bodies: the main house, adjacent to the cathedral, and a lateral body overlooking Fontélie Street. Its entrance, accessible by a bridge over false moats, leads to a double hall opening onto the terraces. Inside, a monumental wrought iron staircase serves the vaulted floors and cellars, now occupied by the Eugène-Camoreyt Museum. The Hall of Illustrators, a gallery decorated with portraits of Lectourois soldiers and damirals (including Lannes), bears witness to local history. The outbuildings, formerly stables, now house the tourist office and municipal archives.

Ranked as a Historic Monument in 2016, it includes the house, outbuildings, the honorary courtyard, gardens and their retaining walls. The interiors, remodeled in the 19th and 20th centuries, retain original elements such as paneling, parquet floors and French ceilings. The Promenade des Marronniers, a former episcopal garden, remains a place of cultural life, once an open-air theatre and a setting for civic celebrations. The site offers an exceptional panorama of the Gers plain and the Pyrenees, highlighting its central role in the urban history of Lectoure.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum