A
privileged site :
There is no doubt that this site, on the bank of the river Bruant,
protected by two cliffs has been chosen by man since immemorial
time.
Under the present château are caves in which
prehistoric objects were found proving that they were inhabited
in palaeolithic times during the Mousterian, Aurinacian and Magdalenian
periods (120.000, 40.000, 10.000 BC). Here and there, in other parts
of the forest surrounding this château, one can find traces
of the enclosure of a gallo-roman village, Merovingian tombs and,
long before the present dwelling, the remains of XIth. Century walls:
the place then was called ROMETTE.
The present château :
Around 1475 Jehan II de Latour had two parts of the château
main body built with four strong towers and a massive keep. This
château was built in the form of a triangle on a rocky outcrop
with the marshland as a natural defence. To the North, the Fuye
tower acted as defence.
After three centuries of conflict with the English in our region,
it was unthinkable to build a château other than a fortified
and defensive one.
In 1603, Jacques de Courbon, having married Jeanne de Gombaud in
1595, freed ROMETTE from a 130 year old joint possession. It was
then that the terms “La Roche” and “Courbon”
gave rise to “LA ROCHE COURBON” which became the name
of the place. |