Château de Pézènes

The Château de Pézènes is a castle in the commune of Pézènes-les-Mines in the Hérault département of France.[1]

Not to be confused with Château de Pézenas.

History

The castle was built on a promontory within a meander of the Peyne river, in a mountainous wild landscape on the trade route from Faugères to Gabian[2] in the 11th and 12th centuries. Many remains from this period are still visible.[3]

In 1539, Guinot de Lauzières, squire, paid homage for his properties, including the castle at Pézènes, to François I.[4]

While never as important as some other sites in the region, it was besieged and taken by Protestant forces in 1569.[5]

In 1885, M. Vernazobres, Mayor of Bedarieux owned the castle.[6]

The castle was restored during the 17th century, and again more recently.[3]

Description

The castle is located on the higher part of the village, surrounded by a fortified enceinte that follows the irregular land surface. Two doorways were opened in this wall during the 17th century. The castle is made up of four buildings closing off a rectangular interior courtyard. The entrance is by two doorways, each with arrowslits, and previously protected by a drawbridges. There is a tower at either end of the castle, rectangular in the north and semicircular in the south. In the east, and part of the castle, is a 12th-century Romanesque chapel whose chevet apse appears to have been raised int the 14th century to make a tower. The door and some of the bays have been colourfully decorated with basalt.[1]

The castle is privately owned and not open to the public. It has been listed since 1981 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.[1]

See also

References
  1. Base Mérimée: Château, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  2. Sabatier-Desarnauds, "Étude sur Quelques positions stratégiques et divers châteaux-forts des environs de Beziérs", Bulletin de la Société archéologique, scientifique et littéraire de Béziers (19887) page 87 (in French). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  3. "Le Château", Petit Futé (in French). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  4. Catalogue des actes de François Ier, vol 7, Paris, December 1896, page 265
  5. J Coulouma, "Excursion Générale du Congrés de Béziers", Cahiers d'histoire et d'archéologie, vol 7 (1934), page 644 (in French). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  6. "Le Dossier Electoral", Le Figaro, 21 September 1885 (in French). Retrieved 3 December 2018.

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