Château de Gaussan

English translation

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History

In 1178, the rural chapel of Saint-Etienne-de-Gaudia was united with the regular priory of Sainte-Eugénie. At the end of the 12th century, this priory was acquired together with the chapel by the monastery of Fontfroide, which established there from the 13th century onwards a fortified farm. The farm remained the possession of Fontfroide until the 18th century. In 1791, all the property of the abbey was placed under sequestration, including the farm of Gaussan, which was sold the same year. The present château corresponds to a substantial complex of buildings, most of them intended for wine production and built in the 19th century. The term "château" applies more particularly to four ranges of buildings which close a rectangular interior courtyard, very extensively remodelled in the 19th century but whose main structure dates mostly from the 14th century. The East and South façades are crowned by a defensive system established in the 19th century, with crenellations on machicolations, appearing to reproduce a pre-existing arrangement, the corbels formed of three quarter-rounds in corbelling being original. The entrance door consists of a round-arch head arch on the reverse of which a groove has been made to allow the movement of the portcullis, and a second round arch lower than the first. This façade is flanked by two corner bartizans in corbelling, remodelled in the 19th century. The façades facing the courtyard, from the 14th century, were remodelled in the 19th century, notably regarding the arrangement of the openings. The central range consists, on the ground floor, of a vast room covered with a broken barrel vault, from the late 13th-14th century. The upper floor is occupied by a disused chapel, fitted out in the 19th century. The residential range is located in the south building. On the first floor is found the room called "the bishop's", covered with a false rib vault with liernes and tiercerons. On the ground floor, all the rooms have French ceilings, with the exception of the dining room and the stairwell which are vaulted. The north-west tower, or keep, on a rectangular plan, is furnished with arrow slits and crowned by a row of machicolations on corbels in corbelling. The latter are original while the arcatures are the result of alterations in the 19th century. The machicolations formerly bore crenellations which were demolished as a safety measure.