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Heritage classified

Origin and history

The pyramid of Portet-sur-Garonne is a monument erected in the second half of the seventeenth century to materialize the boundary between the former provinces of Guyenne and Languedoc. This type of building, characteristic of the border markers under the Ancien Régime, was systematically located at provincial crossing points from the late 17th or early 18th century. The structure, about six meters high, rests on a rectangular base decorated with protruding panels, topped by a loop on a slender iron, a recurrent architectural model for these territorial markers.

This pyramid, which was certified in 1701, is one of the three remaining specimens in the Occitan region. Prior to the French Revolution, these monuments played a major administrative and fiscal role, signaling to travellers and merchants the change of provincial jurisdiction – and thus of regulations, taxes or customs. Their preservation until the contemporary era makes it rare testimonies of the territorial organization of pre-revolutionary France.

Classified in the inventory of Historical Monuments by decree of 21 February 1973, the pyramid of Portet-sur-Garonne (cadastre D 1438) illustrates the desire to perpetuate these vestiges of French administrative history. Its state of conservation and its approximate location at 28 A Chemin du Castelet make it a point of heritage interest for the commune, although the available sources do not specify its current accessibility to the public.

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