Château

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The first mention of the castrum of Pomaribus dates from 1319. During the Wars of Religion, it was at Pomas that the deputies charged with drawing up the articles of the Truce of Labourage met on 22 December 1589. Another assembly for the Truce was held there in February 1590. At the east, north and west angles, three round turrets spring from corbelling established at the level of the first floor. The south angle is occupied by a massive square tower. At the location of the disappeared drawbridge, a small bridge crosses the ditch and supports the current access road which leads to a terrace comprised between the square tower and modern outbuildings. Inside the square tower can still be seen the primitive walls to which it was adjoined. The arrow slits of these walls are cruciform, of a rare type in the Aude (probably from the 14th century). Here and there, the walls have been pierced with gun ports of various forms. At the top of the turrets and curtains were permanently established wooden hoardings. The small inner courtyard is level with the first floor of the apartments. Important silos were dug there. The door giving access to the courtyard from the main entrance is in pointed arch. This construction was partly reworked when two basket-handle arches were put in place which bordered a gallery along the south-west face of the courtyard. These arches appear to be no earlier than the 17th century. The spiral staircase is included in the eastern angle of the courtyard. The painted ceilings are found on the first floor. The ceilings of two rooms each consist of three beams and fourteen joists. The fifteen compartments thus defined on each beam are filled with slightly tilted planks. It is these coffers that have been decorated with coats of arms and various subjects (fruit and vegetables, animals, human busts, fantastic animals...), executed by stencil. There are sixty coffers per room, one hundred and twenty in total.