En un regard
Le château en bref
At the heart of the bend the Lot makes at Luzech, a mighty square keep dominates the small town. It is the last major surviving witness to the medieval castle, built around 1230 in the troubled context that followed the Albigensian Crusade. In 1212, Simon de Montfort had set the town on fire; a few years later, the Bishop of Cahors, Guillaume de Cardaillac, extended his authority over the lower Lot valley and in 1227 bought back the remains of the castle, becoming the dominant lord of the place. In 1257, Alphonse de Poitiers relinquished his rights to him, the barons of Luzech retaining the status of co-seigneurs.
Standing some 24 metres high on a base just over 8 metres square, the keep is built of fair-faced limestone of a pale golden hue. It has arrow loops, is entered through a pointed-arch doorway, and is served by a spiral staircase housed in the north-east angle; flat buttresses reinforce its corners.
Following the extinction of the baronial line on the death of Jean II de Luzech in 1587, the lordship passed by marriage to the Chapt family. In 1841, the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt ceded the castle to the commune, which still owns it.
