Château du Tournel, #10

9 points of interest

• 

  

  History

  Bagnols-les-Bains

  Located close to the springs of the Lot, Bagnols-les-Bains has been favoured since Roman times for relaxing and getting back in shape. At an altitude of 900 m, this people-friendly health and spa resort has a hot spring, which gushes out of the mountain at a temperature of 41.5°C. It is a place for recharging your batteries surrounded by a protected natural environment, alternating outdoor activities and wellness treatments.

• 

  

  Architecture

  One-road village

  Marker 3
  Gradually, the village re-established itself alongside the cart track that crossed the rocky spur and made trade possible, taking on the appearance of a “one-road village”. The track was paved with schist in places and followed the Lot valley to the neighbouring parishes and hamlets. The houses are arranged in a crown shape; their gable ends face out over the cliff. They are separated by enclosed gardens and small squares of sorts. These block-like houses – large and austere two-storey buildings – only have very few openings that always face south and are built to the same model: narrow slits with a simple inward splay, topped by a lintel.

• 

  

  Architecture

  Establishing the original village

  The first village was built at the foot of the castle, on the narrow strip of the ridge between the castle and the block of rock that closes off the spur to the south. Thus protected by its inaccessibility, the village was never surrounded by an internal rampart. Its buildings can still be made out in some places, where the rock is shaped into anchorage points, and consisted of small houses built in parallel to the rock faces so as integrate  them in the construction. This original accommodation was abandoned in the 13th century, badly served by its inacccessibility and the strong winds buffeting it. The houses were levelled off, their walls becoming terrace walls.   

• 

  

  History

  Defensive choices

  Marker 2
  In the 11th century, the King's authority was declining. Secular land-owning lords built fortresses to protect their assets and the people for whom they were responsible. The castrum or castle of Le Tournel was built at an altitude of 1,080 m, surrounded by a loop in the river Lot that is impossible to skirt. It occupies a rocky spur surrounded by sheer drops on all sides except the north. The vertical rock faces of the east and west sides make accessing the castle extremely dangerous. The site itself was the mainstay of the castle's defences, and enabled it to dominate and survey the Lot valley.

• View picture in full screen

  

  Geology

  Schist: bedrock and material

  Marker 1
  At Le Tournel, mica schist is ever-present. Between 220 and 200 million BC, when the Hercynian mountain chain emerged, rock was dragged into the depths by folding and subjected to high temperatures and pressure, which transformed it into schist and mica schist. These finely foliated rocks are made of quartz and mica, and break off in slabs that resist the cold, water and frost, making them excellent construction materials. They provided the raw materials for building both castle and village. Several quarries are still in use locally and supply wall, flooring and roofing materials.

• 

  

  Landscape

  Panorama

  Scots Pines, which have replaced oaks on limestone soils and beech on siliceous soils, cover vast areas. With birches, they are the first to invade abandoned farm land. As a result of agricultural decline, vast heaths of broom – which can live on poor soils – have formed. They are periodically subjected to controlled burns by farmers. This landscape evolves over time, and according to natural and human factors.

• View picture in full screen

  

  Landscape

  Panorama

  Marker 10
  From this high point (above which short-toed snake eagles are often seen), the site of Le Tournel on the rocky spur dominating the Lot Valley, showcases all its strategic power. The surrounding landscape was slowly shaped by human activity, the dispersed settlements favouring the human hold over nature. Mont Lozère’s denuded rounded tops are maintained by the flocks of transhumant sheep that graze here. Crops take up the fertile dips near villages, where farming can be mechanised.

• 

  

  History

  Château du Tournel

  A discovery path leads visitors through the history of the château and the configuration of the former village, today in ruins. Nobody knows what noble knight long ago chose this hill bordered by gullies to build his castrum. The first homage to Le Tournel was paid in 1219, by Odilon Guérin to the bishop and lord of Mende, Guillaume de Peyre.

• 

  

  Flora

  Flora

  Along the paths, many flowers tell us that the sloping bedrock under our feet is schist (slate). The star-of-Bethlehem freshens up for 11 a.m.; the foxgloves raise their purple bell-shaped flowers; tufts of sheep’s fescue seem to have escaped from a summer pasture; biting stonecrop delights in the sunshine; yarrow hems the path in lace; the wild thyme you step on releases its fragrance...