Château Vieux of Izaut-de-l'Hôtel

En un regard

Le château en bref

On a hill overlooking Izaut-de-l'Hôtel, in the Comminges region, the ruins of the Castet, known as the castle of the counts of Comminges, occupy an extensive fortified site of around 4,800 m². Most probably founded in the 12th century by the lords of Izaut, the castle became, under the counts of Comminges, the seat of a châtellenie which, in the 14th century, extended over much of the Haut-Comminges, as far as the valleys of Luchon. In 1250, Bernard VI de Comminges granted a charter to the community. From 1402 to 1784, the lordship was alienated to the La Mothe family. The site combines a seigneurial section dominated by a tower preserved on two levels, a lower enclosure containing an early village area, and a medieval village extending down the hillside. Overgrown and forgotten, it was safeguarded from 1967 onwards by the local inhabitants, then by the association Les 7 Collines; surveys and excavations followed one another from 2011 to 2025. The site is open to visitors.