Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Labro, located in Parisot in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne in the Occitanie region, is a historical monument whose origins date mainly from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The building, partially rebuilt in the 18th century, preserves medieval defensive elements such as a dungeon, a stair tower and a three-storey dovecote vaulted in piles of load. These remains illustrate the architectural evolution of the site, marked by successive transformations.

Originally, the castle was organized around two wings surrounding the dungeon, only part of which remains today. The current house, flanked by an outbuilding tower housing a staircase with screws, rests on a vaulted base of ridges, typical of medieval buildings. The south tower, transformed into a dovecote, is girded by an anti-rodent larval and accessible by a door adorned with a shield and an arch in a braid, dating from the 16th century. These developments reflect the site's adaptation to seigneurial and agricultural uses.

The family of La Valette, linked to the history of the castle, marked its mark on the place. The remains of the 14th century, such as sled windows and broken arch doors, coexist with 16th-century additions (round and wing) and 18th-century alterations. The pigeon tree, a remarkable element, bears witness to the symbolic and practical importance of this type of construction in the seigneurial estates of Occitanie, where pigeon breeding was a noble privilege.

The castle is part of a rural landscape marked by sheep rearing and a dispersed human occupation, characteristic of Caylus causse, at the edge of Quercy and Rouergue. Its history is inseparable from that of Parisot, a rural commune whose population, after a peak of 1,730 inhabitants in 1866, is now reduced to 557 residents. The site, classified as a Historical Monument in 1987 for parts of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, remains a major witness to the defensive and seigneurial heritage of the region.

The immediate environment of the castle, crossed by the Baye and Seye rivers, is also marked by natural hazards such as floods and the withdrawal-swelling of clay soils, which may have influenced its state of conservation. These geological constraints, coupled with the relative isolation of Parisot, located between Caussade and Villefranche-de-Rouergue, preserved the site of modern urbanizations, allowing a clear reading of its medieval plan.

External links