A medieval episcopal palace and its presbytery, in bare ownership, in a village south-west of Toulouse. The village became a bastide in the 13th century. The bishops, whose main seat was at Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, built their summer home there. In the late 15th century, Bishop Jean de Foix-Grailly turned the summer home into a far more prestigious palace. Among other works, he added a remarkable Flamboyant Gothic stair tower. Access to the property is from the village's main square. It comprises a main building, nicknamed the 'Bishops' Palace', at the end of the inner courtyard, and the former presbytery annexe on the south side of that courtyard. The palace rises two levels above the ground floor and also has a converted attic. It faces mainly south-west. Two towers flank it: a pentagonal one to the south that houses a spiral staircase and a rectangular one to the north that contains a lift. A carved tympanum above the entrance to the south tower depicts a very large cow wearing, round its neck, a coat of arms associated with the Foix and Béarn families.
The bishops kept altering and embellishing the palace in the 17th and 18th centuries. The French Revolution, however, changed the building's fate completely: the palace was then declared national property, divided, and sold in several lots. It gradually fell into oblivion and deteriorated badly.
Enthusiasts finally undertook to save it in the 20th century. A major restoration began in 1969 and continued from 1998. The palace is laid out around its historic spaces and its courtyard, forming an architectural complex in which the different periods coexist. Its proportions, old walls, and defensive or residential features reflect the successive alterations made to the building over the centuries.
In its present state, the former episcopal palace has an extensive floor area of nearly 800 m² and is a listed building (Monument Historique) in its entirety. Its four levels of living accommodation include several reception rooms, a kitchen, five bedrooms, a studio apartment, and a meditation room. On the main entrance side, the palace is bordered by a garden and by the presbytery. The presbytery has three levels above the ground floor and a floor area of around 210 m². It comprises a kitchen, dining room, three bedrooms, shower room, bathroom, and a self-contained studio apartment.

HouseAurignac (31)
Price :
$952,500
($1,206 / m²)
Surface790 m²bedrooms10 bathrooms4 land3,137 m²

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