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Bages, formerly, formed the pre harbor of Narbonne. When close to Bages, you have to stop to "PRATUM SEXTUM" ("the meadows of the sixth one"), to the sixth milliary boundary, an important relay on the Domitienne via along the property |
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To
the 2nd and 1st century B.C., the meadows and fields of the 6th
miles or stadium after Narbonne, are named Combusta*, they will become
three centuries later Pratum Sextum, as testified by the tumblers of
Vicarello, offered to the richest hydrotherapy's Roman patients.
*The etymology of Combusta probably comes from the fact that the periphery of Narbonne had been ravaged and burnt to the final combustion by the Celts of Toulouse, envious of the native power of the future Narbo, also called at this era Elycia, Elysiques city, or Nero. |
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Then,
the Romans founded a colony called Narbonne. When the Consul
Domitius Ahenobarbus, about 130 before Jesus Christ, decided to repair
and to consolidate the phoceo-phenician way, it was in accordance
with the primitive boundary and marking: small boundaries had been
placed stadium by stadium, according to the European and Asian Greek
usage. Polybe precises: "When the Romans repaired this via,
they maintained the stadiums already establish while adding them 8 by
8, they erected to every thus obtained distance a milliary
boundary. |
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An old coin was found, about ten years ago, a little bie sideway of the via, at3.80 meter depth, when installing a fouloir. It is a so called AS of Nîmes that can be dated from year 40th. Backside, the leaned heads of Augustus and Agrippa. On the front, the crocodile of Nîmes money with a specific marking allowing the coin circulation. |
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A
plow (plough soc) was equally discovered on the spot. In 2009, in
the Prat de Cest vines, Evelyne ALLIEN found sigillée pottery fragments
, most probably coming from the "manufacture" of GRAUFESENQUE (close to
Millau). |
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1023
: Pratum
Sextum (II.L.V.p180) 1138 :
Casal de Sest (Doat.39.F4) 1288 :
Grangia ad Prad des Sest
(Arch.Com.Narbonne
AA101 f°31) 1306 :
Prato Sexto
(Arch.Com.Narbonne) 1306-1500 :
Prat de Cest (Arch
AH 211 F°36)
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The Prat de Cest domain, whith the 11th
Century
buildings
are still visible today, was the property of the viscounts of Narbonne
up to 1156. |
March 20th 1156, the viscontess Ermengarde of Narbonne ( Aymeri dynasty) donated the Tower and Bastide of Prat de Cest to the Holy Hospital Saint Juste and Saint Pasteur of Narbonne. |
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In March 20th, 1156 Donation made by Ermengarde vicontesse of Narbonne at the Holy hospital Just and the Holy Pasteur of Prat de Cest's earth In
the name of God, it has to be known to any presents and to the future
that Me, Ermengarde, viscountess, by my spontaneous willingness and for
the salute of my soul and of my relatives I give without limitation, I
give to Lord God and to hospital of Saints Just and Pasteur and to you
Arnaud, current director and to Bernard your colleague and to all your
successors in this function known as said hospital, which serve God to
feed and restore the poor men of the Christ, all this hospital situated
and based in the said place Prat de Cest with all its buildings, its
entrances and exits, all its dependences and with all the increases and
the improvements which you can make and acquire for God's honor, for
food and catering of the poor men passing there and coming here so that
they find the charity, the resources and the hospitality there. And I make it me, Lady Ermengarde, viscountess known on this condition that you and all your successors living in the hospital already named of Saints Just and a Pasteur, for the benefit of God you have, possess and occupy in any property under your dependence and your administration all the hospital already named by Prat de Ceste with all his its memberships and dependences, for life, and that you know that this one must be jointly managed, maintained as yours of best that you will can in a way that the poor men passing there can find help and hospitality there. But if ever in Prat de Cest's hospital a man or a woman harms you, you or to your successors, in any way, I promise you and your successors, that me and my offspring with all my power I shall protect you and shall defend against every criminals as much as I shall can and shall make so that you have and possessed known says hospital According
to the parchment made the twentieth of March of the year of the
embodiment of Lord eleven hundred and fifty sixth, under the reign of
king Louis. |
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To the springs of the WINE
One of the first vineyards
existing in Languedoc is situated in Prat de Cest's castle as given
evidence of it by both extracts on parchment above.
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Castle History |
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In the southeast the church is implanted, of which we ignore the holy patron, but who finds thanks to the owners of the place, its original purity. We penetrate there by two doors, the one in the Southwest, the other one to the "Cers "( North) said " door of the deaths " with an access to the Via Domitia; it is enlightened by a window of axis in simple "ébrasement". The nave of 8 m of length andits cradled bent is slightly wider than the altar of 5 m, which is flat-bottomed, of wisigothique period (7th century AC) and also bent. The walls are made by beautiful high and regular stones. It is believed that this church replaced after a prosperity period, authenticated by a charter of viscountess Ermengarde of 1156, a former church, the plan of which would also be in square head and the assizes of which showed, by soundings, to be higher than those of the Romanic church. It is very likely that an exploitation with its church of wisigothique period overlaped a Roman house.
In
the South raises the impressive mass of the castle built by 1100 too in
beautiful stones and arrived almost intact , as regards the ground
floor |
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Vault room |
Three floors existed: the basement which had to act as storeroom with reserves
Finally, the floor devolved to the patients welcome and to the hospitality; this floor; always existing, contains its own baker's oven of the XIIth century | ![]() |
Two other baker's ovens, which seem later built, are present in the domain and served until the war of 1940!) (photo of the baker's oven) |
In the wall the South is the well, of square section, and which maybe Roman, but inside the fortification, and which, thus, allowed to resist any siege of the Tower and Prat de Cest's ancient country-house. |
It
is in the North where opens in a wide wall of 1.80 m of thickness a
door with double arcature, to allow the operation of the harrow. |
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XVI th CENTURY In
1502, Pierre David gives the Tower to Raymond de la Vinheta, his
cousin, merchand in Narbonne. |
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May
26th, 1575, during the religious wars, archbishops of Narbonne required
the three fortresses to be destroyed « abatuz et randuz
indéffandables , affin que lesd. Ennemys ne s’en puissent amparer et se
fortiffier dans icelles contre le service de Dieu et du Roy " » XVII th Century 1639 : Chasteau de Prat de
Cest( Arch.Com.Narbonne- sur Roques III-89) 1675 : compoix
concernant des parcelles appartenant au baron de Prat de Cest. 1697 : le Baron de Montbrun
propriétaire de Prat Cest et Maire de Narbonne a un procès avec la
Mairie de Bages XVIII th Century Courtal de Ceste - Cassini
map |
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1711 :
reconnaissance de terres aux cisterciens
de Fontfroide .
1773 :
quittance par le Monastère de Fontfroide en faveur de
Monsieur Azeau ,
père -fermier .
1782 :
vente du Château de Prat de Cestà Monsieur
Chavardès.
XIX th Century
1806 : Exchange of the propoerty
with Marc François
Arnaud ( de Peyriac) ancestor of the present owners
1807-
1814 : Selling the remaining part of the domain to Monsieur
Marc François Arnaud
Prat
de Cest is then given to his two daughters , one is Avelina
Razouls who will ensure the domain perennisation.
Family History |
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Avelina Razouls (1818-1889) Married
to her cousin Adolphe, will be thanks to his daughter Léonie, married
to Dieudonné Duffour de la Vernède, the carrier branch of all our
descent in this lineage. The land heritage of Avelina and the name of
its domains marked the professional and family life of her descendants. In
fifteen years, the property of the deceased became three times more
important than that inherited from his father; it is necessary to say
that this fortune is linked to the spirit of Avelina, which, in the
difficult years of the first decades of the XIXth century, when the
starvation raged in all Languedoc, has done, by means of her nephew,
marine captain Fauran (native as his aunt of Sigean, The Palm), a
chartering of four ships in the harbour of La Nouvelle. These
boats brought back wheat from the depths of Spain and their cargo
allowed, on the way back, to feed thestarving populations from the
region. .
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1860:
Prat de Cest is less populated than Pesquis, but develops considerably
thanks to its big vineyards - It is the golden age of the vine - but
also due to the growing importance of the traffic on the main road
number 9. The castle runs its traditional relay vocation on the Via
Domitia, becoming Via Mercadéria at Ermengarde erea. |
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Léonie Duffour de la Vernède bequeaths to her youngest and the fifth child, Marthe (on 1877 - 1969) Prat de Cest's property. This one married Raoul Balayé, living in the Castle Dudon at Barsac, in Sauternais .
Marthe in school
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Raoul
Balayé died when 29-year-old from an appendicitis, Marthe lived alone,
very old, and bequeathed the property to their daughter Renée (on 1903
- 1986), married to Colonel Herteman. |
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Jacqueline
and Jacques Saumade, her husband, use their leisure activities and
pension to perform the restoration of the medieval buildings and to the
restructuration of the vineyard.
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