Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Laguens House, located on Rue de l'Évêché in Rieux-Volvestre (Haute-Garonne), is an iconic 18th-century building, although its origins date back to the early 16th century. It was originally built as the seat of the bishopric of Rieux, before being profoundly redesigned in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its architecture combines medieval elements, such as a hexagonal tower with a brick pyramid (the Valtan Tower), and classic additions, including a street façade decorated with wrought iron balconies and carved lintels.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, Laguens House had various vocations: girls' school, convent, religious institution, and then boys' school. It was listed as a historical monument in 1973 for its facades and roofs, before hosting, in 2011, the Pierre Hanzel medical centre, specializing in multiple sclerosis. The interior courtyard reveals a half-timbered façade on three floors, while the main façade, dating from the 18th century, illustrates the architectural evolution of the site.

The proximity of the former Cathedral of the Nativity of Mary and the presence of a bell tower evoking a minaret underline its historical importance in the urban landscape of Rieux-Volvestre. The house thus embodies centuries of religious, educational and medical history, while preserving architectural traces of each period.

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