Larressingle

Larressingle ; Larressingla
region	Occitania
Department	Gers
Arrondissement	Condom
Canton	Armagnac-Ténarèze
Community association	Ténarèze
Coordinates	43 ° 57 ′ N , 0 ° 19 ′ E Coordinates: 43 ° 57 ′ N , 0 ° 19 ′ E
height	75-177 m
surface	8.55 km 2
Residents	214 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	25 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	32100
INSEE code	32194
	; City gate and curtain wall

Larressingle ( Gascon : Larressingla ) is a French commune of the department Gers in the region Occitania . Administratively, it is assigned to the canton of Armagnac-Ténarèze (canton of Condom until 2015 ) and the Arrondissement of Condom .

The village, on the route Via Podiensis of St. James is located, is considered one of the plus beaux villages de France ( most beautiful villages in France classified).

geography

The place with 214 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) is in the historical province of Aquitaine - more precisely in Gascony ; even more precisely in Armagnac - in the valley of the Osse 6 kilometers west of Condom and around 125 kilometers southeast of Bordeaux .

history

middle Ages

Larressingle is one of the smallest walled medieval towns. The place dates back to the early 11th century. The abbot Hugues de Gascogne (Hugo von Gascogne; † around 1013), who had founded the abbey of Condom, was the son of Gombaud de Gascogne . The latter was not only Duke of Gascony , but also Bishop of Gascony. When Gombaud became Bishop of Agen and Bazas , he bequeathed the Larressingle fief to Hugo, including the parish of Saint-Sigismond. The expanded possession of Comdom Abbey was in 1163 and 1245 by Popes Alexander III. or Innocent IV. confirmed in a bull . The original parish church was replaced by a fortified church in the 12th century .

In the 13th century, both the French and English crowns claimed the province of Aquitaine. In order to demonstrate his claim to power, the French king had Larressingle and numerous other settlements in the region developed into a bastide . But shortly after taking office as Abbot of Condom, Auger d'Anduran negotiated a condominium (French: Pareatges ) with the English King Edward I on June 20, 1285 . Two bailiffs - one from each camp - were appointed and the English party provided a garrison to assist the abbots in putting down unrest that was spreading from the local population. It seems that Larressingle was largely spared the Hundred Years War .

Modern times

During the Huguenot Wars , Larressingle was captured by the Ligists (Catholics) in 1587 and developed into the base for their “crusades” against the Protestants, which often degenerated into raids. The city remained occupied even after Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism and when Henry IV became King of France. It was not until 1596 that the league dissolved completely in Larressingle.

In the 17th century, the bishops abandoned Larressingle Castle in favor of their more modern residence at Cassaigne . The last Bishop of Condom, Reverend von Anterroches, had the roof of the castle dismantled at the end of the 18th century and the beams brought to Cassaigne. In the course of the French Revolution , the building was pulled in and gutted by the state. At the beginning of the 20th century only three outbuildings were inhabited, the rest was used as a barn or was removed and used as building material. The community owes the subsequent repair of the castle complex to Edmond Mortier de Trévise (1883-1946) who founded an association that existed until 1938 and was supported by donors from Boston .

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2009	2017
Residents	187	170	155	138	161	200	207	214

Attractions

Apse of the Saint-Sigismond church and castle complex

The four-storey castle Château de Larressingle has a trapezoidal floor plan and is flanked by a hexagonal tower. The facade is provided with paired lattice windows. The interior is badly damaged, but some massive chimneys can still be seen. The castle ruins have been a French cultural monument since 1922 .

The medieval 270-meter-long polygonal curtain wall has been almost completely preserved, apart from the east side, and is considered a jewel. The entrance is in the west and leads through a high, fortified city gate with a weir bay . The former drawbridge has been replaced by a static stone bridge flanked by walls and turrets. The fortification has been a French cultural monument since 1947.

The solidly fortified Romanesque castle church of Saint-Sigismond dates from the 12th century. It has a refuge equipped as a chapel , which can only be reached via a spiral staircase, which is hidden behind a small door on the inner right side of the entrance. A secret passage connected this room with the keep of the castle. The no-frills church is divided into two parts. The entrance portal leads directly into the choir , which is covered with a hemispherical vault. When the donjon was built, the original church had to be shortened and cut off at the height of the transept. The sacred building there today ends with a vertical wall ( chevet plat ) at the site of an apse . An extension in the east replaced the space that had been lost in the west. This extension, which consists of two ogival yokes , dates from the 13th century. The sacred building has been a French cultural monument since 1988.

The wooden cross in front of the city wall has been a French cultural monument since 1950.

The Pigeonnier du Peneau pigeon house has been a French cultural monument since 1988.
The small museum Musée de la Halte du pèlerin shows on a circular route how the inhabitants might have lived in the Middle Ages.
The Camp de Siège Médiéval des Machines du Moyen Âge open-air tourist museum presents reconstructed siege devices from the Middle Ages, including a bulwark , palisades , a siege tower , catapults and cannons. Visitors can try their hand at archery and crossbow shooting or dress up as a knight. The museum is closed in the winter months.