Pigeonnier de Bancourel
MonumentHidden Treasure
Pigeonnier de Bancourel, located in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie (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
- Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.4660, 1.6654
- Mérimée Reference
- PA46000046
A round, solitary silhouette on the Lot Causse, this 18th-century dovecote stands watch from Saint-Cirq-Lapopie over an agricultural memory that has all but faded away. It was listed as a Historic Monument in 2010.
History
On a bend in the limestone paths that criss-cross the causse of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, the dovecote at Bancourel stands like a silent witness to a bygone rural world. Its circular shape, typical of the dovecotes built for the lords and farmers of Quercy, immediately sets it apart from ordinary buildings, giving it an almost sculptural presence in the open landscape of the plateau. A modest building in appearance, it nevertheless has considerable historical and social significance. In France under the Ancien Régime, owning a dovecote was a privilege closely associated with the nobility and feudal rights. Its presence at Bancourel bears witness to an important farming operation, rooted in the rural life of the Quercy Blanc region and in the pigeon economy - pigeon droppings, or colombin, being a valuable fertiliser for the poor soils of the causse. What makes the dovecote at Bancourel particularly moving is precisely its predicted state of ruin. Already described as "ruined" as early as 1788 in a document of the time, it has endured over two centuries of slow decay without ever completely disappearing, as if the robustness of the local limestone had withstood abandonment. This longevity in its fragility gives it a rare melancholic beauty. A visit to the dovecote at Bancourel is to become part of the intimate geography of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, a village listed as one of France's Most Beautiful Villages, whose agricultural land tells as much of its history as its medieval streets. The surrounding limestone plateau, bathed in low light at the end of the day, offers photographers and landscape lovers a setting of austere, authentic beauty. Its inclusion on the Monuments Historiques list in 2010 confirms the heritage value of this vestige: no longer in spite of its ruins, but because of them, the Bancourel dovecote embodies the fragile memory of Causse agriculture and is well worth a visit.
Architecture
The dovecote at Bancourel has a circular floor plan, the most common shape for prestigious dovecotes in the Quercy and Périgord regions. This round morphology, inherited from medieval towers, offers the practical advantage of evenly distributing the boulins - the niches cut into the interior masonry for the pigeons to nest in - around the entire circumference of the wall. A standard-sized circular dovecote can accommodate between two hundred and five hundred bolts arranged in concentric rows from the ground to the cornice. Built using traditional Caen construction techniques, the building was probably constructed using dry limestone or lime-bonded stone, materials that are ubiquitous on the Lot plateau. The thick, solid walls would have supported a conical or domed roof structure covered with limestone lauzes, the flat stone slabs characteristic of the Quercy region. The access door, probably raised above the ground to prevent predators from entering, was probably the only opening on the lower level, while openings or oculi allowed birds to enter and leave in the upper part. The state of ruin in which the building has been in since the 18th century makes it difficult to assess its original volume, but the persistence of its walls bears witness to the quality of its original construction. Its silhouette, albeit fragmentary, is still sufficiently legible to give a mental picture of the full, proud shape it must have had in the causse landscape at the time of its splendour.
Related Figures
Propriétaire seigneurial inconnu du XVIIIe siècle, commanditaire probable de la constructionIntendant ou fermier de Bancourel, gestionnaire du domaine agricole jusqu'à l'abandon vers 1785Rédacteur anonyme du document de 1788 mentionnant la ruine — premier témoin écrit du déclin
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Pigeonnier de Bancourel located?
Pigeonnier de Bancourel is located in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
When was Pigeonnier de Bancourel built?
Pigeonnier de Bancourel dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Pigeonnier de Bancourel open to visitors?
Pigeonnier de Bancourel is currently closed to visitors.