Château de Pézènes

En un regard

Le château en bref

Set on a promontory within a bend of the Peyne, the Château de Pézènes-les-Mines guarded an old trade route at the foot of the first foothills of the Hérault hinterland. Its core incorporates a Romanesque chapel of the 12th century, whose apse is said to have been raised in the 14th century to form a defensive tower; the chronology of the other building campaigns remains debated, spanning the 11th to the 17th century. Four ranges of buildings enclose a rectangular courtyard, flanked by a rectangular tower to the north and a semicircular tower to the south. Visitors once entered through two gateways fitted with loopholes, formerly defended by a drawbridge. The most distinctive feature lies in the surrounds of the doors and windows, enhanced with basalt inlays that create a polychrome decoration. In 1539, the squire Guinot de Lauzières paid homage for the lordship to François I. Thirty years later, in 1569, the Protestants besieged and took the stronghold. Listed as a historic monument on 9 July 1981, the château is privately owned and not open to the public.