The Château de Luc is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the town of Luc in the

Lozère Lozère (; ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'', in the Occitanie ''

région France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which have ...

'' of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was built in the 12th century on a previous

Celt The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

ic site.Ministry of Culture
Ruines du château
/ref> The castle, as a strategic point between the two provinces of

Gévaudan Gévaudan (; ) is a historical area of France in Lozère ''département''. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe. History After the conquest of Gaul, the Romans preserved the capital city of the Gabali, ''Anderitum'', which they ...

and

Vivarais Vivarais (; ; {{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of Ardèche, named after its capital Vivier ...

, guarded a link to the south of France of the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

frequently used by pilgrims of Saint Gilles, also known as the Regordane Way, on which it was a toll-gate. For the first 100 years or so of its existence it was the home of the Luc family. In the 13th century it became the property of other regional

seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

s. During the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

it withstood a number of sieges. During the 16th century

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent ...

the state of

garrisoned the castle. Around 1630 the castle was dismantled under orders of Richelieu. During the period surrounding the French Revolution it continued to fall apart from neglect. In 1878, local parishioners renovated the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

into a chapel, installing a shrine to the Virgin Mary. In the same year, the English writer

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

passed through on his travel-adventure, as he recorded in ''

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes ''Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes'' (1879) is one of Robert Louis Stevenson's earliest published works and is considered a pioneering classic of outdoor literature. Background Stevenson was in his late 20s and still dependent on his par ...

'': It remains in ruins today and attracts hikers who re-trace Stevenson's route on the

GR 70 The GR 70, also known as the Chemin de Stevenson or the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail, is a GR footpath, Grande Randonnée (long-distance footpath) that runs for approximately through the French departments of Haute-Loire, Lozère and Gard in a ...

. The castle is the property of the commune. It was declared a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

in 1986.

References

External links

Ministry of Culture listing with photos

Portal for the Regordane Way
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luc, Chateau De Châteaux in Lozère Castles in Lozère Ruined castles in Occitania (administrative region) Monuments historiques of Lozère

See also

References

External links