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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The former enclosure of Saint-Pastour is a vestige of the bastide founded between 1250 and 1259 by Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Saint Louis. This fortified village, typical of the 13th century, was girded with a wall in tufa bellow, partially preserved to the west. The city gate, covered with a full-fifted arch, marked the narrow entrance of the city, without traces of harrows or braces. The site reflects medieval defensive techniques, combining reworked rock escarpments and summary masonry.

The bastide, originally pro-English in 1315, became a strategic issue during the Wars of Religion. In the 16th century, Catholics and Huguenots fought violently against it: in 1569 Monluc defeated Protestant captain Arnaud de Clermont, while Armand de Gontaud-Biron took over the square in 1580, massacring his defenders. The ramparts, perhaps reinforced at that time, today remain only by a western section, surmounted since the 19th century by a statue of Jeanne d'Arc, added by the local parish priest.

The adjacent castle, a quadrilateral tower with three towers, also dates from the 13th century but was redesigned in the 16th century. His coronations disappeared, leaving a partial building. Classified as Historical Monuments in 1990, these vestiges illustrate the religious and political struggles that marked the southwest, between French kingship, English influence and denominational conflicts. The approximate location (precision: 5/10) and oral sources complete this fragile heritage.

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