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Origin and history

The command office of Vaour, located in the Tarn 80 km northeast of Toulouse, was founded in 1140 by the knights of Penne, who gave land to Pierre Humbert. This templar site, surrounded by a trapezoidal wall, housed about ten knights, while other outbuildings (Montricoux, Cahors, Lacapelle-Livron) completed their network. The Templars, exempt from taxes in exchange for the protection of the premises, extended their power over seven cantons and the Quercy, thanks to the donations of the religious of Septfonds, Chancelade and the Count of Toulouse.

In 1303, Commander Bernard de la Roche supported Philip the Bel in his conflict against Pope Boniface VIII, marking the political involvement of the commandary. After the dissolution of the Order of the Temple in 1312, the site passed to the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, who kept it until the Revolution. The organization of the place included a church on the ground floor of the dungeon (20 m high, now collapsed in 1910), a barn with foothills, and common areas such as the kitchen and dining room. An octagonal tower provided access to the Commander's apartments.

Ranked a historical monument in 1927, the commandory illustrates the Templar architecture: sacred hill (a guttered hill suggesting a water cult), fortified enclosures, and utility buildings. Today, the restored barn hosts shows run by the association Summer of Vaour. The site also preserves traces of neighboring Templar possessions (Marnaves, Lintin, monastery of Amarens) and archives such as the Cartular of the Templars of Vaour (1894).

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