Exemple : a nice Castle

Designed at the start of the 13th century, Lamothe castle, more commonly known as castle was the summer retreat of the Bishops of Oloron Sainte Marie from the 13th to 18th century.

In addition to the title of Baron , the Bishops benefited from holding smallholdings in usufruct, including the very attractive one on the other side of the river Vert. They were also the owners of the canal and, at the same time, the fullers, the marble workshop and the mill which they operated. The mill was by far the most important since it gave full control over wheat and millet production.

 


To fully understand what the chateau represented, it should be seen from below, arriving by the chemin du Vert. It has still retained an element of mystery, a stately and respectable side. Perched on its rock, in the age of catapults, arrows and swords, it was inaccessible and impregnable; what a view there must have been from up there when you know that the west wing was nothing less than a tall, square tour.

<< View south towards the outside of the property, from above
     the gateway porch.

The rocky spur that the chateau was built on is first mentioned in the 8th and 9th centuries by a historian who reported a lookout post there with shelters for the lookouts and their families.

Damaged during the Wars of Religion (16th century), the chateau was restored by Monseigneur de REVOL who reduced the square tower to the level of the other buildings, and built a chapel on the gateway terrace, as well as the building known as the orangery with its very attractive south-facing gallery.

The Bishop was dispossessed of the chateau in 1789. It was sold with its outbuildings on 3 March 1791, to the LAMOTHE D’INCAMPS family, for the sum of 89,542 pounds.

The new owners added a further floor to the chateau, and lowered the pentagonal tower by 8 metres following lightning damage on 27 June 1830. They added the false battlements by which it was known in 1958. The chapel was destroyed in the 19th century.


 

The pentagonal tower in detail:

The construction of the pentagonal tower (a copy of the MONCADE tower in ORTHEZ) completed the chateau’s defences. It is in fact a square tower, one side of which, that facing potential attack, is made up of two faces. Why? So that the projectiles of the time (catapult balls, arrows, etc.) would not strike perpendicularly, but at an angle. They would therefore ricochet and lose much of their power. The walls of the tower are 1.30 m thick at the base. The ground floor was windowless and used as a grain store. Access was via the first floor, using an outside staircase; ladders inside gave access to the other two floors. The tower was 23 m high until 27 June 1830 when it was struck by lightning and lowered by 8 metres.

 

Located at the gateway to the Pyrenees, castle is the ideal departure point for visiting renowned attractions less than one hour away by car: the Ossau, Asp and Barétous valleys, Pau, Lourdes, the Basque country and Spain.


Sources: texts by Gilbert Estécahandy taken from the website describing the village of Moumour.