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Key figures

Origin and history

The enclosure of Saint-Pastour is a vestige of the bastide founded between 1250 and 1259 by Alphonse de Poitiers, brother of Saint Louis. This strategic site, still pro-English in 1315, became a military issue during the Wars of Religion. The ramparts, partially preserved to the west, date from the second half of the 13th century, while the adjacent castle, renovated in the 16th century, presents a quadrilateral plan flanked by three towers.

The town gate, typical of the bastides, is characterized by a full-cranked bow, without traces of harrows or braces. The medieval enclosure exploited the natural rocky escarpment, cut in places to delimit the village. A section remains today, supplemented by a statue of Jeanne d'Arc added in the 19th century at the initiative of the local parish priest. These remains, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1990, illustrate the struggles between Catholics and Huguenots.

In the 16th century, Saint-Pastour was the scene of violent clashes. In 1569 Monluc, a Catholic leader, defeated Protestant captain Arnaud de Clermont. In 1580, Armand de Gontaud-Biron seized the square and massacred the Huguenot defenders, before the latter took it back. In 1652 the Bastide, held by the Frondeurs, was besieged by the royal troops. These successive conflicts marked the history of the site and its defensive architecture.

The preserved wall of enclosure, in tufa bellow, and the town gate reflect the military adaptations of the bastide. Although the coronation of the castle has disappeared, its shooting flares recall its strategic role. The location of Saint-Pastour, in Lot-et-Garonne, made it a point of control between Aquitaine and Guyenne, disputed for centuries.

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