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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The royal fortress of Najac, built on a rocky spur overlooking the Aveyron valley, came into being around 1100 with the construction of a first castrum by Bertrand de Saint-Gilles, son of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse. This Romanesque dungeon, the base of the present castle, served as a strategic lock in the Basse-Marche du Rouergue, facing the ambitions of the Trencavel in Albigeois and the Counts of Barcelona. The site, divided between several local lines (Najac, Cadoule, Gros), became an issue of the 12th century southern conflicts, notably during the war between Alphonse Jourdain de Toulouse and Roger Trencavel (1141-1142).

In the 13th century, the castle was completely rebuilt between 1253 and 1266 by Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Louis IX and Count of Toulouse by his marriage to Jeanne de Toulouse. This "new castle", of Philippian Gothic style, incorporates the primitive Romanesque tower and adds courtines of 25 meters high, round anti-sape towers, and record archers of 6.80 meters – designed for three simultaneous archers. Najac, the seat of a royal vigour, controlled the Aveyron parades and secured communications between the Rouergue and the provinces united to the Crown. Its dungeon, culminating at 200 meters above the river, symbolizes Capetian power in front of the Plantagenets.

The castle played a key role during the Hundred Years' War: occupied by the English at the end of the 14th century, it was taken over by the Najacois through a trick. Until 1370, it housed the seat of the senate floor of Rouergue, before its transfer to Villefranche. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was the scene of the wars of Religion (seated by Catholics in 1573) and the revolt of the Croquants (taken by the peasants in 1643, taken over by the troops of Mazarin). Abandoned after 1650, it was sold as a national property in 1794 and partially dismantled as a stone quarry.

Saved from the 19th century ruin by the Cibiel family, the castle was classified as a historical monument in 1925. Its architectural peculiarities—medieval cachot, chapel with traces of paintings, and a stolen corridor linking the Romanesque tower to the dungeon—make it an intact testimony of 13th century military art. Never taken by force, it illustrates the evolution of defensive techniques, from Roman castella to the Capetian royal fortress.

The fortress is now open to the public. Its history reflects the feudal struggles of the Midi (Toulouse vs Trencavel), the integration of the Rouergue into the royal domain, and the social upheavals of the 16th-17th centuries. The giant archeries, unique in the world, and its strategic position make it a major site of Occitan heritage.

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