Château de Belcastel

About

Belcastel Castle is a medieval fortress on a rocky spur of the French municipality of Belcastel in the department of Aveyron in the Occitanie region. It is located on the north bank of the Aveyron River, downstream of Rodez. In 1992, the village of Belcastel was elected one of the most beautiful villages in France.

He was one of the milestones on the salt road. Etymologically, "Belcastel" comes from the beautiful l-occitan which itself comes from the Latin bellum meaning warrior and powerful and castel coming from the Latin castelum which is the castrum diminutive meaning fortified post of a camp. So the castle is not built to serve as a pleasure castle but as a military fortress.

The site could have a Roman origin and had the aim of protecting the valley and countering invasions. On a square, the castle of Belcastel was born in the eighth century with a simple chapel. The history of the castle ended abruptly at the beginning of the seventeenth century, then abandoned and left in ruins.

In 1972, the architect Fernand Pouillon discovered the remains, and decided to restore their glory to them. For eight years of uninterrupted work, he gave...