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Bastide (planned town)Gers

Bastide de Seissan

Seissan

Dimensions
The tower, the only remnant of the castle raised by the abbots of Faget-Abbatial; the 15th-century abbatial house with its St Andrew's cross timber framing; the market halls and the bandstand; the church of Notre-Dame, built from 1874 to 1890 after the former church had been razed in 1869; the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, a building of the 11th century; the castle motte of Le Tuco.
Period
12th-century castelnau; bastide of 1266, customs in 1288; market fixed in 1532; road of 1775; church rebuilt from 1874 to 1890.
What stands there
Three buildings protected as monuments historiques: the castle, inscribed in 1973, the château du Garrané, classified in 1978, and the dovecote of La Bernisse, inscribed in 2010. The market day, Friday, was fixed by letters patent of Francis I in 1532.

Seissan lies on the Gers, nineteen kilometres south of Auch. Remains discovered at the place called Le Gleyzia attest a Gallo-Roman presence, and a castelnau developed in the 12th century on the left bank of the Gers, around a castle raised by the abbots of Faget-Abbatial, of which only the tower remains. The bastide was founded in 1266 by Count Bernard IV of Astarac, in paréage with Abbot Bernard II representing the abbey of Faget-Abbatial; laid out around the castle, it received a charter of customs in 1288 but developed little thereafter. The Friday market goes back to letters patent of Francis I of 1532. About 1775 the new road from Auch towards the valley of the Aure profoundly altered the structure of the village. A 15th-century abbatial house with St Andrew's cross timber framing, the market halls and the castle recall the town's past.

Further reading

Getting there : Free access to the village. Market on Friday; old-style market on the first Friday in August.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Bastide de Seissan
Fabricio Cardenas · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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In the same department

All places — Gers (34).