Maison de Monségur
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison de Monségur, located in Monségur (Gironde), 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
- Monségur, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.6500, 0.0790
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00083913
At the heart of Monségur, this ancient house listed as a Monument Historique bears witness to the civic bastide architecture of the Sud-Gironde, with its ashlar stone façades and its details characteristic of the Gascon vernacular heritage.
History
Nestling in the royal bastide town of Monségur, founded in the 13th century on the marches between Gascony and Périgord, this ancient house is one of the most eloquent examples of medieval and post-medieval civil architecture in the Sud-Gironde. Listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 8 July 1992, it stands out within a remarkably well-preserved bastide urban fabric, where the alignments of facades, covered arcades and orthogonal streets are a reminder of the urban planning genius of the Capetian founders. What makes this residence particularly unique is its location in a bastide town whose architectural coherence is rare in the Gironde. Unlike the large, eye-catching seigneurial residences, this house embodies the architecture of the merchant bourgeoisie and rural nobility: sober lines, solid local materials, a concern for a certain domestic comfort expressed in the proportions of the openings and the quality of the limestone ashlar detailing. A visit to this house, or its immediate surroundings, is a natural part of a stroll through Monségur, where the central covered square, the medieval streets and the church form a coherent whole. Visitors sensitive to local heritage, far from the crowds of the great châteaux of Gironde, will find here a precious authenticity and an intimate dialogue with local history. Monségur itself is well worth a visit: perched on a hillside overlooking the Dourdogne valley and the wine-growing and hedged farmlands of the Entre-deux-Mers region, the town offers uninterrupted views over an area where bastides, chartreuses and manor houses dot each valley. The house fits into this dense heritage landscape, adding a touch of domestic intimacy to the great history of the bastides of the South-West.
Architecture
The house is part of the bastide civil architecture tradition of the Sud-Gironde region, characterised by its golden to blond limestone construction, typical of local quarries in the Bazadais and Entre-deux-Mers regions. The soberly ordered facades feature ashlar-framed openings whose moulded profiles reveal several phases of construction or remodelling, ranging from late Gothic to the provincial Renaissance and even 18th-century Classicism. The layout, in keeping with the constraints of bastide plots, is in depth on a narrow, elongated plot, with adjoining rooms and an inner courtyard or garden at the back of the lot. The roofs, covered with low-pitched canal tiles in keeping with southern architectural practice, emphasise the house's place in the Gascon-Aquitaine architectural sphere rather than the more northerly influences of neighbouring Dordogne. Potentially noteworthy features include the sculpted brackets supporting a balcony or awning, the mullioned or transomed windows typical of 16th-century homes, and the quality of the treatment of the entrance door, often the most elaborate feature of these houses of provincial notables. The coherence of the whole with the urban fabric of the bastide - alignment with the street, respect for the template, dialogue with neighbouring facades - is in itself a heritage value of the highest order.
Related Figures
Henri III d'Angleterre — fondateur de la bastide de Monségur en 1265, dont le plan urbain conditionne l'implantation de toutes les maisons de la villeAlphonse de Poitiers — comte de Toulouse et acteur majeur de la politique des bastides dans le Sud-Ouest français au XIIIe siècleProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, initiateur de la politique de recensement du patrimoine civil en FranceFamilles de notaires et marchands locaux — bourgeoisie bastidaire dont les demeures constituent le tissu patrimonial de Monségur aux XVIe-XVIIIe siècles
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison de Monségur located?
Maison de Monségur is located in Monségur, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Maison de Monségur built?
Maison de Monségur dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison de Monségur open to visitors?
Maison de Monségur is currently closed to visitors.