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Origin and history

The Laroque-des-Arcs toll tower is a medieval building located in the village of the same name, in the Lot department, in the Occitanie region. Built in the first half of the 13th century, it is part of the castrum of La Roque, first mentioned in 1231. This fortified site belonged to the powerful family of Gourdon, who probably shared the seigneury between several branches. The tower, although traditionally associated with toll or grant use, has never seen this use confirmed by written sources.

In 1258, Fortanier II of Gourdon (†1260/1261) reserved the castrum for his son Pons II, before Hugues de La Roque, his brother, paid tribute for this fief to the bishop of Cahors in 1280. The seigneury changed hands several times over the centuries: sold in 1297 to Guillaume de Jean, it then returned to the La Roque, then to the Penne by inheritance in the 15th century. An agreement signed in 1305 between Bertrand II de La Roque and the consuls of Cahors authorized the free passage on his land for a sum of 500 pounds, illustrating the local tensions around the rights of movement.

In the 17th century, the seigneury of La Roque passed to the Fontanges through the marriage of Gillette de Gourdon with Antoine-Jean de Fontanges in 1601. The fief was then transmitted to the Monclar, then to the Lagrange-Gourdon at the beginning of the 18th century, via matrimonial alliances. The tower, classified as a historic monument in 1979, remains an emblematic vestige of the feudal history of Quercy, marked by seigneurial rivalries and economic stakes linked to the control of the axes of communication.

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