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Origin and history

La Halle de Puycasquier, located in the Gers department in the Occitanie region, is an emblematic building of this rural commune with 420 inhabitants. According to local sources, its construction dates back to the 16th century, although its architecture is more reminiscent of new medieval cities. This historic monument, registered since 1973, illustrates the typical twinning between a shopping hall and a cornered square, designed to facilitate trade that made Puycasquier's prosperity from the Middle Ages.

The current hall, rebuilt around 1922 by architect Francou, replaces a 14th century building with decorative elements such as carved capitals. Its entirely oak frame, assembled without nails thanks to wooden ankles, supports beams 15 meters long. This technical choice reflects both the local artisanal know-how and the economic importance of Puycasquier, a former cantonal capital and a place of fairs known as Sainte-Catherine (25 November) and Chandeleur (2 February).

The history of the hall is inseparable from that of the Puycasquier bastide, probably founded in the 13th century by the Viscounts of Fézensaguet. These lords, from the Armagnac, encouraged the creation of bastides to concentrate the population and collect taxes more effectively. The hall, joined to the church under one awning, formed the heart of this fortified village whose walls, now gone, protected a community active in the cattle and grain trade. The religious conflicts of the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries (wars of Religion, repression of Protestantism) also marked its history, as evidenced by the destruction of the neighbouring Protestant temple in 1685.

In the 19th century, the hall was still a central place for community activities: weekly markets, bals, and even temporary school work. Its reconstruction at the beginning of the 20th century, entrusted to Italian carpenters, perpetuated traditional techniques while modernizing the structure. Today, it remains a symbol of Puycasquierois identity, linked to traditions such as the annual procession to the Notre-Dame de Gaillan chapel, commemorating the end of a plague epidemic in the 16th-17th centuries.

The architectural heritage of Puycasquier, which also includes the church of Saints-Abdon-et-Sennen (registered in 1977) and the chapel of Gaillan, reflects this turbulent history. The hall, by its central position and its market function, is particularly a reflection of the role played by this gascon village, between Auch and Fleurance, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era.

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