The Château de Pruines is a

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 ...

in the French '' commune'' of

Pruines Pruines (; oc, Prunas) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. The Château de Pruines is a castle dating to the 15th century, much modified over the centuries. Population See also *Communes of the Aveyron department T ...

in the

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants o ...

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 ...

''. The castle dates from the 15th century. Built in local red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

it consists of several parts: a main building, a tower and a stable. In the 16th century, interior work was undertaken to make the castle more comfortable."Patrimoine et Histoire"
Mairie de PRUINES website The ceilings, dating from the 17th century, have very colourful paintwork and sculpture. The castle has been the property of a succession of families over the centuries. From the Arjac-Solages family it passed to the Marcenacs, who sold it to Jean-Antoine Bancalis (1655-1706) in the 17th century. After the seizure of property 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 ...

, the Bancaris bought it back. At the start of the 20th century, it was sold to the town and became the ''

mairie In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

'' and a public school until 1954. Between 1974 and 1999 it was renovated by a private owner who made it into an ''auberge de jeunesse'' (

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...

) and organised craft courses. Today, privately owned, the castle has been restored and furnished in period style; the kitchen includes a collection of ancient pottery and magnificent copper utensils. The Château de Pruines is one of a group of 23 castles and sites in Aveyron which have joined together to provide a tourist itinerary as ''La Route des Seigneurs du Rouergue''.Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdet
"Château"
''Aveyron 2018/2019'', Petit Futé.

References

Sources

* MAZARS, Jacky & ROLLAND, François ''Pruines et Prunols, l'histoire d'un village du Rouergue à travers les siècles'' l'Association des Amis de Pruines

External links

Château de Pruines on l'Aveyron département website

''Route des Seigneurs du Rouergue'' website, with photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruines, Chateau De Castles in Aveyron