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Origin and history

The Soubeyran Gate, located in Marvejols in Lozère, was built in the 14th century as part of the urban fortifications decided in 1361 by the local trustees to protect themselves from the attacks of the Routiers. These armed bands, composed of mercenaries demobilized after the Hundred Years' War, then ravaged the countryside and small towns of southern France. The gate, along with those of Chanelles and Thérond, marked the strategic entrances of the city, integrated into an imposing rampart designed to resist the assaults.

During the Wars of Religion, Marvejols became a Protestant bastion in Gevaudan. In 1574, Huguenot Captain Mathieu Merle took over, before a Catholic expedition led by the Duke of Joyeuse took her back in 1586 after three days of siege. The town, looted and partially destroyed, saw its fortifications dismantled by order of Henry III in the same year. Henry IV, wishing to restore the royal authority, then financed the reconstruction of the city and its gates from 1589, including the door of Soubeyran, the only one still open to visit today.

Architecturally, the door consists of two towers framing a vaulted passage, surmounted by an assomoir worn by carved crows. The interior façade, facing the city, preserves murderers and an almost intact round road. An inscription in verse, engraved on the wall between the towers, bears witness to its historic role as a northern access to Marvejols, on the large road linking the Auvergne to Languedoc. This monument, inscribed in 1925, illustrates the strategic importance of the city as a commercial and religious relay (pilgrimage to Conques) in the Middle Ages.

In the 18th century, the ditches surrounding the ramparts were filled and transformed into gardens, marking the end of the defensive vocation of the gate. Today, it remains a symbol of the military and urban heritage of the Lozère, open to the public and classified among the historical monuments of the Occitanie region. Its conservation allows us to study medieval fortification techniques and the religious conflicts that marked the Gevaudan.

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