FONTANGES
means : Font Tencha, the source of the red clay of Causse. The well-informated
tourist wiil want to go deeper and know the history of the Château.
Here are the main facts : from 1280, the land belonged to the Balaquier
family. In 1422 the lord of Belcastel, Alzias de Saunhac owned a
third of the land, the remaining percentage belonged to the chapter
of Rodez.
At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century some additional
parts were added to the Château, for exemple, a stucco chimney
was built in the kitchen. In 1564 a building with a tower was constructed
and called "the new house of FONTANGES".
The present Château was built between the end of the 16th
and beginning of the 17th century for a rich draper from the city
of Rodez, Raymond d'Austry. He built the tower on five levels that
can still be seen from the central courtyard of the hotel ; The
tower was designed by Pierre Tournie D'Ambec from Rodez, and then
Bernard and Antoine Persec from Ste Radegonde continued the work.
One of their sons laid the first stone of the Château on 22nd
January 1590. Another mason from Ambec erected a second tower on
the Floyrac side with Fraissinhon, a tiler, completing the work.
On one of the two chimneys, Raymond d'Austry sculpted his coat of
arms; the design is of an ostrich and it reads "figure boufarele
de l'Auster ou vent du midi". In the present dining room of
the Château, which was previously the largest room, one can
admire the French style ceiling painted by an artist who also decorated
the joists of another hotel in Rodez built by Raymond d'Austry that
no longer stands. Unfortunately the murals can no longer be seen.
At the time, each space between the windows and the facing walls
was decorated in a trompe l'oeil style resembling statues in their
alcoves. In 1654, the widow of Jean d'Austry who was the President
of the Presidial of Rodez rented the estate and took up residence.
The management of the estate passed to the Chartreux then the Jacobins
of Rodez who maintained the estate regularly. The estate was sold
as state property on 11 March 1781. The estimated value was £44.669,
it was auctioned off at £77.400 to Descombes, a bourgeois
from Truel, parish of Conulet ( Bessuéjouls). |
