The Heritage Foundation will contribute €30,000 to save this monument in the Lot

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The Heritage Foundation Occitanie-Pyrénées revealed this Thursday, November 28, 2024, the three 2024 winners awarded as part of its Regional Impact Fund.

For this first edition, three flagship projects from the Occitanie region are awarded for their different impacts. The delegation is mobilizing €90,000 to support these three projects.

Among these three winners, the medieval tower of Luzech in the Lot was chosen in the “impact on security of goods and people” category, will therefore receive €30,000 for its restoration.

The medieval tower of Luzech rewarded

For its first edition on a regional scale, the winners were chosen by a regional committee from a choice of projects proposed by the departmental delegations.

The medieval tower of Luzech was chosen for the safety of property and people. This concerns a building whose state of danger requires emergency intervention in order to avoid its disappearance or if it threatens the safety of other buildings or people (risk of collapse, fire, etc.). Particular attention is paid to the site currently closed to the public, the restoration of which will allow its reopening.

The Luzech tower fits perfectly into these criteria. It is the vestige of a 13th century castle.^e century. Located at the top of the Luzech peninsula, surrounded by the Lot river, this imposing tower, located to the north of a defense complex encompassing the fortified castle and village, dominates this heritage site. It was raised by Guillaume de Cardaillac, bishop of Cahors, who recovered after 1227 a large part of the seignorial rights, including the castle of Luzech.

24 meters high, this monument is typical of the long Romanesque towers of Quercy, particularly in terms of its small footprint. With its position in the middle of an isthmus, this fortified complex (tower and walls) thus protected the inhabitants from invaders coming up the river, notably during the Hundred Years' War.

Today, it is difficult to access via a path lined with remains of walls and two gates from the same period. €30,000 will therefore be allocated for its restoration.

The works planned in Luzech

Property of the municipality of Luzech, the tower is partially classified as a Historic Monument. It has a real interest in the attractiveness of the area and will allow additional visitors interested in the reopening and visiting the tower made possible by the work. In addition, this will allow the maintenance of the surrounding gardens in order to make them visitable to maintain and potentially develop the biodiversity already present on the site.

Nowadays, a lack of waterproofing of the upper terrace of the tower has caused water infiltration into its structure (vault, floors and stairs, etc.), thus forcing the closure of the site for obvious safety reasons.

This building therefore requires urgent water protection work to stop its deterioration, allow its rehabilitation then its reopening to the public. The work program mainly provides for the reinforcement of the masonry by means of repointing and occasional replacement of damaged stones, as well as the renovation of the joinery, lighting and locksmithing.

Other awarded sites in Occitania

The two other sites each awarded €30,000 in Occitanie are the cloister of the Augustins of Toulouse for cultural impact, and the Lavelanet craft center (09) for the impact of artistic crafts and know-how. TO DO.

Created in 2024 by the Occitanie-Pyrénées Delegation, the Regional Impact Fund makes it possible to encourage and support exemplary rehabilitation projects through their direct positive impact on the territory. Once restored, the sites will contribute to the vitality and dynamism of their region.

Like the National Impact Fund, for which seven impact criteria are recognized and encouraged by the Heritage Foundation, the regional delegation selected its three winning projects with regard to three impacts: cultural, security of property and people, and crafts and know-how.

A real lever for revitalizing the tourist and cultural offer, heritage has direct repercussions on the attractiveness and visibility of the territory. The Heritage Foundation, by facilitating these collective projects and bringing together public and private actors, contributes to the rescue of these sites and their reappropriation by communities, the population and the local economic fabric.

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