On its small hill surrounding by vineyards and greenery, the castle was, in the past... kings of England’s residence! During Hundred years War, they raised the current fortress.
Before that, the fief belonged since centuries to the priory of Le Réole. But at that time, we only had a small keep, raised in the 13th century by Bertrand de Ladils.
A huge seigneury Bertrand sold in 1272 to those who ruled other the area... the English!
Kings of England started to raise Lavison castle, from the 14th century: it was the Black prince, king Edward III’s son, who launched the construction.
But when Hundred Years War ended, the English were forced to give back the fief to the French Crown and decamp from Aquitaine!
Lavison then fell to France kingdom, then owners succeeded one another: the Malet in the 16th century, the Lavie one century later, the Laveyssière in the 18th century.
So, what about the castle itself? It has a 2 floors keep linking up a main building. This one has two completely different façades: overlooking the courtyard, we have wide mullioned windows, and overlooking the outside, we can see a pretty medieval look... with no windows!
In the 16th century, they fit out modern apartments: they also raised a dovecote in the courtyard, for 2 000 pigeons!