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Origin and history

Palaminy Castle was erected as part of the foundation of the Palaminy bastide by Sicart-Aleman, the senechal of the Count of Toulouse Raymond VII, between 1250 and 1260. This strategic site, with a checker plan and a pebbly enclosure, became a direct seigneury of Philip the Hardi after the death of Alphonse de Poitiers. In the 14th century, the square was held by Gaston Fébus, then divided between the kings of France and the local lords. The castle, located at the northwest corner of the bastide, preserves traces of the primitive enclosure and is characterized by an irregular quadrilateral flanked by massive towers, with the exception of a corbelled tower added in the seventeenth century.

The facades of the castle show holes of different periods, reflecting its successive transformations. Inside, a staircase and reception rooms adorned with 19th-century panelling stand alongside a room of the 18th-century red silk marquise. The garden, originally French, was replaced by an English park in 1878 before being restored in 1912. Together, including the house La Roucat and the house of La Tilleul with coronage, bears witness to the architectural and landscape evolution of the site. The castle has been protected as historical monuments since 1988, with remarkable elements such as its stairwell, its brick fireplace, and the silks of the Marquise room.

The building of the castle is in the context of the bastides of the South-West, founded to structure the territory and affirm the Comtal and then royal authority. Palaminy, a co-seigneury shared between the crown and local families such as the d'Eimar, illustrates the political and social dynamics of the region, between the Middle Ages and modern times. The use of red bricks and Garonne pebbles, typical materials of the Haute-Garonne, strengthens its territorial anchor and architectural identity.

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