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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The house on the northern front of the ramparts of La Couvertoirade dates back to the 16th century and is part of the military and religious history of Larzac. Founded by the Templars in 1158 after the donation of the county by Raymond Bérenger, Count of Barcelona and King of Aragon, the stronghold passed to the Hospitallers in 1312 after the dissolution of the Order of the Temple. This fortified village, marked by religious conflicts, resisted the Protestants in 1562 before being briefly taken in 1566 by Captain Huguenot Sausset, then taken over by Bishop Claude Briconnet de Lodève.

The private houses, like this one, stand directly against the ramparts, with architectural features of the Renaissance. Their vaulted ground floor often served as a sheepfold, while the upper floors, with chimneys, ovens and pottery tanks, housed living spaces. The door of this house is distinguished by its fluted pilasters, its cut pediment and an armored cartridge representing a leaping lion and a tree with two birds, symbols probably linked to its former owners.

The upper window, now devoid of its meneau and crusillon, and the lauze cover (local stone) bear witness to the constructive techniques of the time. Partially classified as Historic Monuments in 1934 for its Renaissance gate and adjacent bays, this house illustrates the adaptation of civilian habitat to the defensive constraints of a Templar village, then hospital, in the heart of the Aveyron Larzac.

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