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Origin and history

The tower of Montcuq, built in the 12th and early 13th centuries, is a rectangular dungeon (12 m × 8.50 m) flanked by a square turret with a screw staircase. Symbol of authority, it served as a seigneurial residence, a place of command and a defensive system. Owned by the lords of Montcuq (the Gourdon de Castelnau, vassals of the Counts of Toulouse), he was spared despite orders to destroy the fortifications after the Albigeian Crusade (Treaty of Paris, 1229).

During the Albigois Crusade, Simon de Montfort's troops occupied and looted the site. After the treaties of Meaux (1124) and Paris (1229), although the ditches were filled, the dungeon was preserved. In 1274, the seigneury of Montcuq was attached to the kingdom of France with the county of Toulouse. In the 15th century, after the Hundred Years' War and epidemics, Montcuq lost its regional influence, becoming a secondary local power.

The dungeon, accessible by a single door at the base of the turret, consists of four bunk rooms. The lower room, vaulted in a cradle, served as storage or prison. Room 2, illuminated by narrow windows, housed seigneurial hearings and receptions. Rooms 3 and 4, with fireplaces and dusters (stone benches), formed the Lord's private apartments. The upper platform offered a strategic view of the Barguerlone valley, a major commercial axis between Quercy and Agenais, and the pilgrimage paths (Compostelle, Rocamadour).

Ranked a historic monument in 1904, the tower illustrates the military Romanesque art with its thick walls (2 m), its murderers and its concentric organization of the medieval village around the dungeon. The latter was used to control communication routes and monitor surrounding valleys, highlighting its key role in defence and local administration in the Middle Ages.

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