© T.Suire-AGP

DOVECOTES

Dovecotes hold a very special place in social history in Western countries and, consequently, in architecture.

Their main function is utilitarian (food, receptacle of stockdoves), but since their advent, they had a symbolic value: the symbol of power and of sovereignty, abolished after the French Revolution. Very few dovecotes can be found in the Western half of the Gers Department. The highest concentration is in Lomagne, in Fezensac around Vic and Auch and in the valley of the Save.

Several types of dovecots can be distinguished in Gers:

• on arches • on lateral walls, on pillars or columns • full • "mule footed" (full or on arches) • integrated or not into a building • crow's nests.

 

Stuck in the middle of a ploughed field, integrated into a façade or hidden under the shade of oaks, dovecots, which are of no use any more, belong to our cultural heritage.

VILLAGES IN BLOOM BASTIDES & CASTELNAUX CASTLE PALEONTOLOGY DOVECOTES MILLS & PUBLIC WASH HOUSES SITES, MUSEUMS, MONUMENTS