Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas
MonumentHidden Treasure
Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas, located in Gramat (Département 46), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Gramat, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.7701, 1.6967
- Mérimée Reference
- PA46000083
In the heart of the Causse de Gramat, the Pissebas farmhouse contains dendrochronological ceilings dating back to 1488: an exceptional example of medieval rural housing in the Quercy region, listed as a Historic Monument in 2023.
History
Nestling in the limestone landscape of the Causse de Gramat, in the Lot department, Pissebas farm is one of those discreet monuments whose historical power is only revealed to those who take the time to observe it. Far from the celebrated castles and abbeys, it embodies a different kind of nobility - that of Quercy vernacular architecture brought to its quintessence, faithful to the soil that gave it birth. What sets Pissebas apart from the multitude of old farmhouses in Quercy is the lightning accuracy of its dating. Thanks to dendrochronological analyses carried out on the beams of its two ceilings and the rafters of its roof structure, we can say with certainty that carpenters worked here around 1488, then again in the years 1509-1510. These dates, engraved in the wood as they are in time, make Pissebas an absolute landmark in our knowledge of rural houses in the late Middle Ages in Quercy. The current building complex is the result of a long architectural sedimentation. The north-western dwelling, with its sober, functional character typical of the 19th century, was most likely rebuilt after 1824 on the site of an earlier dwelling that had been demolished. This superimposition of layers, visible in the stone and confirmed by the Napoleonic cadastre, gives the farmhouse a rare historical legibility. Visiting Pissebas is like taking part in the archaeology of everyday life: the interior volumes, the exposed joist ceilings and the layout of the buildings reveal the uses of a causse farm, with sheep rearing, walnut growing and cereal production. Attentive visitors will discover a social history as well as an architectural one. The setting itself adds to the experience. The Causse de Gramat, with its expanses of dry grassland, sinkholes and ancient juniper trees, is a setting of austere beauty. The farmhouse, built in the local honey-coloured limestone, seems to emerge naturally from the plateau as if the rock itself had decided to take on a habitable form.
Architecture
The Pissebas farm is built around two main dwellings with clearly distinct architectural features. The south-east dwelling, the older of the two, belongs to the Quercy building tradition of the late Middle Ages: thick walls of roughly coursed limestone from the causse, bays of measured proportions and, above all, ceilings with wooden joists, which, according to dendrochronological dating - circa 1488 and 1509-1510 - are the most precious elements of the ensemble. The rafters supporting the trusses display the technical characteristics common to rural buildings in the Lott region at the end of the 15th century, with no superfluous ornamentation but proven robustness. The north-western dwelling, probably rebuilt after 1824, reflects the canons of 19th-century farmhouse architecture in the Quercy region: simple, two-storey elevations, a gable roof covered in limestone slate or canal tiles depending on subsequent alterations, and a functional layout that clearly distinguishes the living areas from the farmland. Despite its 19th-century homogeneity, this dwelling faithfully follows the outline of its medieval predecessor, whose footprint it respects unchanged since 1824. The entire farmhouse is built from the characteristic blond limestone of the Causse de Gramat, a locally quarried material that gives the buildings their warm, almost luminous hue in the Quercy sunshine. The limestone slate roofs, an ancestral technique in the region, provide a remarkably watertight seal while visually anchoring the building in its geological setting. The layout of the buildings, arranged around a semi-enclosed courtyard, reflects the practical logic of farming in the Causse region.
Related Figures
Propriétaires anonymes de la fin du XVe siècle — commanditaires de la première campagne de construction vers 1488Charpentiers quercinois de 1488 — artisans auteurs des plafonds à solives dendrochronologiquement datésArtisans de 1509-1510 — intervenants de la seconde campagne de construction identifiée par dendrochronologiePropriétaire du XIXe siècle — commanditaire de la reconstruction du logis nord-ouest après 1824Dendrochronologues contemporains — chercheurs ayant établi la datation précise des bois de charpente
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas located?
Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas is located in Gramat, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
When was Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas built?
Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas open to visitors?
Ferme au lieu-dit Pissebas is currently closed to visitors.