En un regard
Le château en bref
Allègre Castle, in the commune of Allègre-les-Fumades (Gard) — not to be confused with the Château d'Allègre in Haute-Loire, with which this entry had been mistaken — is a ruined castrum perched at 275 m above sea level, covering about 1.5 hectares. First mentioned in 1163, held as a fief of the Count of Toulouse and then confirmed to the crown by Philip Augustus in 1211, it was organised as a co-seigneury of twelve noble houses under the Languedoc custom of egalitarian inheritance, forming a true ‘village of knights’. Devastated in 1383 during the Tuchin revolt, it was gradually abandoned by the nobility in favour of residences on the plain, and then occupied by peasants until around 1910. Its remains — double ramparts, towers, seigneurial lodgings and chapel — preserve round arches, fireplaces, niches, staircases, arrow loops, hoarding corbels and latrines. The site may be visited on request through the castle's association, and it hosts a medieval festival every year.