The Donjon Lacataye is the
keep of a 14th-century
castle, constructed by order of
Gaston Phébus
Gaston Fébus (also spelt Phoebus) (30 April 1331 – 1391) was the eleventh count of Foix (as Gaston III) and twenty-fourth viscount of Béarn (as Gaston X) from 1343 until his death.
Early life
Gaston was born either in Orthez or Foix, the el ...
in the ''
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
'' of
Mont-de-Marsan
Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France.
Population
Military installations
The French Air and Space Force operates the '' Constantin Roza ...
in the
Landes ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
'' of France. Today, it houses the Musée Despiau-Wlérick.
[ Ancien Donjon de Lacataye]
History
La Cataye consists of two joined
Romanesque houses, which one sees perfectly while entering the current museum whose central internal wall includes Romanesque windows, a sign that one of the two houses was built before the second. These houses belonged to the Viscount's family and were more or less abandoned starting from the 15th century, when the Viscounts moved away from their town of origin. During the 16th century, their upper parts were modified and they were equipped with
crenellation
A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...
s. The material used is ''coquillère'', a local
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
.
The name Cataye comes from the Spanish verb "''castar''", to supervise. It is entirely possible that these houses replaced a preceding mound structure with tower because the site is also called: "''pujorin''", i.e. "''pouy jorin''" (''pouy'': height and ''jorin'', deformation of ''lorenh'': towards the east).
In 1860, Antoine Lacaze, mayor and owner of the keep, gave it to the town to house troops. It later became the departmental barracks until 1875, when the soldiers moved to the
Bosquet barracks in the town. The keep preserved the name ''Caserne Lacaze'' (Lacaze Barracks) for nearly a century, in spite of a succession of civil uses: boarding school for young girls, gymnastics centre, municipal workshop.
[Serge Pacaud, ''Mémoire en Images - Mont-de-Marsan'', éditions Alan Sutton]
The keep today
In 1968, mayor
Charles Lamarque-Cando inaugurated in the keep a museum of modern figurative sculpture (the Musée de Mont-de-Marsan), dedicated to two local artists,
Charles Despiau
Charles Despiau (November 4, 1874 – October 28, 1946) was a French sculptor.
Early life
Charles-Albert Despiau was born at Mont-de-Marsan, Landes and attended first the École des Arts Décoratifs and later the École nationale supérieure de ...
and
Robert Wlérick.
It has been listed since 1942 as a ''
monument historique'' by the
French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...
.
See also
*
List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Region and Department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are properly called palaces, mansions or vine ...
References
External links
*
Despiau-Wlérick Museum official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacataye, Donjon
Castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Buildings and structures in Landes (department)
Monuments historiques of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Mont-de-Marsan
Tourist attractions in Landes (department)