Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Leuc Castle, mentioned since 1110 under the name of Feudum de Leoco and named castrum in 1215, is a fortified ensemble of the 14th and 15th centuries built on a strategic hill controlling the road between Carcassonne and Saint-Hilaire. Originally composed of five towers (including a central dungeon) surrounding a large rectangle, it now retains only its southwest half, three towers and agricultural remains. The dungeon, perhaps prior to the 14th century, exhibits traces of wooden heaving and developments from the 16th to 17th centuries as cannon guns. A vaulted room, illuminated by a window with oblique ironwork, and a square tower with weapons of the Dax testify to its architectural evolution.

The building of the castle between 1372 and 1375 is attributed to Pierre de la Jugie, Archbishop of Narbonne, who made it a fortress overlooking the narrow valley of the Lauquet. In the 15th century, Arnaud Dax, an anobli merchant of Carcassonne, acquired the seigneury in 1457 and undertook major beautifications: a large staircase with flamboyant bays, a monumental fireplace decorated with the weapons of the Dax, and an octagonal tower. His son, Jean Dax, adviser to Charles VIII and provost of the Marshals of France, inherited the estate in 1479 and confirmed his seigneurial status by royal homage in 1485, covering Leuc, Axat, La Serpent and other fief.

The castle, taken by the Leaguers in 1589 during the Wars of Religion, passed to the family of Lévis in the 17th century. A fire in 1791, during the Revolution, seriously damaged the building, remodeled internally in the 19th century for agricultural and residential use. Joined the Historical Monuments in 1948, it now houses the town hall of Leuc and is being restored. The room of the Cryer, in the south tower, recalls Magdeleine de Siran, widow of Benjamin de Lévis-Montmaur, who took refuge 43 years after the assassination of her husband in 1653.

External links