Discover

Dovecotes and "small heritage"

 
Pigeonnier

Dovecotes and "small heritage"

From villages to hamlets, valleys to plateaux, the terroir unveils its charms.

The rural architecture marking the heritage, the witnesses of time are ubiquitous: Romanesque chapels, traditional farms, dovecotes, mills and fountains strewn along the landscape.

The pigeon towers were here very widespread, not being the privilege of the Lords and nobles, and used to collect the valuable Colombine (pigeon droppings), a much estimated fertilizer.

The oldest achievements are the pigeon towers built on columns, thus preventing the access of predators to nests of the valuable volatile.

The most representative of this model is that of the equestrian Domain, near Lauzerte.

Many other examples dot the countryside: dovecotes-towers, quadrangular or circular, isolated or added to houses, dovecotes-mushrooms, dovecotes "hoof of mule" and even dovecotes-wells.