Galiot de Genouillac's silken canopies in Assier castle
And also
The tops
Assier is a Renaissance castle in the heart of Lot departement. Famous French writer Brantôme described Assier as "the most gorgeous castle of Quercy area and even of France".
Jean de Gourdon de Genouillac acquired Assier by marriage in 1464. His son, famous Jacques Galiot de Genouillac, gathered the different lands of his seigneury in order to build up a 1000 hectares estate.
Galiot was a great military tactician, king François I's friend. He undertook the construction of a castle upon ruins of his family's fortress, based on plans by Nicolas Bachelier.
Galiot accumulated treasures here, like golden tapestries, nice tablewares... better than King's castle, said Brantôme!
When Galiot died, Assier fell to his daughter, Jeanne. Her descendants kept it until the 18th century.
Then the castle sank into oblivion... The leaden roofs were sold in 1766 and 3 wings were demolished. The 4th one is the current wing, bought by the French state in 1934.
What a shame! So, what could we find, in the past? North-east tower housed the chapel, the south-east tower (called Archives' tower) dates back from the former fortress. The apartments occupied the southern wing and one part of the western wing. To the north, we could see a double archway gallery.