The Château de Padiès is a mansion built on the site of a former

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, located in the outskirts of the village of Lempaut in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of Tarn in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The Château de Padiès is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

château, built in its present form in the 17th century. It is set in the

Lauragais The Lauragais () is an area of the south-west of France that is south-east of Toulouse. The Lauragais, a former county in the south-west of France, takes its name from the town of Laurac and has a large area. It covers both sides of the Canal ...

region, known for the production of the dye

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

(french: pastel).Couleur Lauragais
''Petite histoire du Pastel''
Its “renaissance” façades have finely carved mullioned windows populated with fantastic mythical beings, lions' heads and symbols of plenty. It has been established that the château existed at least before 1209. The Seigneurs were Cathar sympathisers and records from the Inquisition through to the 13th century are testimony to this. During the

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

, the château was attacked and pillaged by the Protestants in 1572; the then seigneur blew himself up with the aid of a barrel of gunpowder, his wife and children were taken to nearby

Puylaurens Puylaurens (; oc, Puèglaurenç) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. The poet Suzon de Terson was born here in 1657. See also *Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn de ...

where they became Protestant. The son rebuilt Padiès in its present form. Around a hundred years later with the revocation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

, the family reaffirmed their Catholic origins. Later, the young Emmanuel de Las Cases stayed at Padiès; he recorded his fond memories of the generous lady of the house, Marie-Claire Villèle (aunt of

Jean-Baptiste de Villèle Jean-Baptiste is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist, and sometimes shortened to Baptiste. The name may refer to any of the following: Persons * Charles XIV John of Sweden, born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was King ...

, a future minister of

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

), and the gardens populated with boxwood animal heads, espaliered grenadiers, the birds, the fireplace one could sit in…. Las Cases went on to become a general under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, and to write the ''Mémorial de Ste Hélène''. The last of the Padiès were imprisoned in their château during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. They were eventually pardoned because of their “grand old age”. They had no children. In 1800, Pierre de Padiès died leaving his property to his widow, Marie-Claire. She left the château to her family who in turn sold it to the Fabre family in 1826. Padiès remained in the Fabre family until 1992, the date of its acquisition by

Denis Piel Denis Piel is a French photographer and film-maker. He was born in France in 1944. He was raised in Australia and educated in the United States. He lives in the south-west of France. He worked as a fashion photographer in the 1980s; from 1979 h ...

and Elaine Merkus, the new restorers. Padiès appears to be a Toulousain ''hotel particulier'' transported to the countryside, yet the mass of the building and the diagonally placed towers recall the military role of the château. As one of the three Seigneuries of Lempaut, Padiès was an integral part of village life. At the time of the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

census, forty five people lived in the immediate vicinity of the château. They built their shelters using local materials, they farmed, gardened, produced food and clothes, baked bread, killed and processed pigs and generally lived…..and loved….. in a sustainable environment. In 1998 they received the Special 40th Anniversary

VMF VMF may refer to: *Variable Message Format Variable Message Format, abbreviated as "VMF" and documented in MIL-STD-6017, is a communications protocol used in communicating tactical military information. A message formatted using VMF can be sent via ...

Marquis de Amodio Prize for the extensive work completed on the building at that time. The owners of the Château de Padiès are building an environment to reconnect Padiès with its surroundings in a sustainable way. Padiès was listed on the ''Inventaire Supplémentaire des

Monuments Historiques ''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 coll ...

'' (ISMH) in 1928. Château de Padiés

References

External links

Official site

Padiès blog - life at Padiès

Carnets du Sud à Lempaut, Tarn, au château de Padiès

Office de Tourisme Revel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padies, Chateau De Castles in Tarn Châteaux in Tarn (department) Monuments historiques of Occitania (administrative region)