Château de Pierregourde

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Pierregourde stands in ruins on a rocky pinnacle rising to more than 600 metres in altitude, overlooking the commune of Gilhac-et-Bruzac, in the Ardèche, in the Haut-Vivarais. Founded in the 12th–13th century, it takes its name from the Old French term for a “stone watchtower”. The earliest document mentioning the site is a terrier (land register) of 1217 relating to seigneurial rents. The lordship was held by the Pierregourde family, attested from 1237 with Hugues I, until the line died out in 1568 with the death of Louis de Pierregourde, a Protestant leader. It then passed by marriage to the Barjac and La Marette families and, in 1646, to the house of Maugiron, before passing in the 18th century to the Marquis de Veynes. The castle was abandoned in the 17th century and subsequently served as a stone quarry, which largely explains its present ruined state. An archaeological study carried out in 2016 by Émilie Comes-Trinidad and Mehdi Dhaou established a chronology of occupation extending from the 12th–13th century to the 17th century and uncovered traces of metalworking.