Château Aqueduct

1996 World Monuments Watch

The aqueduct system is a rare example of medieval water architecture, which survived through the 1960s in essentially working order. Consisting of an aqueduct, cistern, irrigation system, and four rare hydraulic water mills (which produced flour and oil for the community), the system was central to chateau life, serving various military, civil, agricultural, and industrial uses. For the past thirty years, the castle and aqueduct have been restored and maintained as a historical and cultural site. But water infiltration has severely compromised the outer layer of one of the castle walls, causing some large rocks to fall into the aqueduct. There is now a three-meter gap at the base, endangering both the structure of the wall and the integrity of the aqueduct. The weakened wall, which forms part of the entrance path to the castle, is subjected to continuous stress and poses a hazard to visitors. In 1995, water infiltration caused another wall on the opposite side of the castle to collapse. Help is needed to stabilize this rapidly deteriorating situation.

Since the Watch

As a result of listing on the World Monuments Watch, in 1997 the medieval complex of hydraulic works at the Château of Castelnau-Pégayrols was designated a regional historic monument. Subsequently, collapsed walls were repaired and water infiltration problems were addressed. February 2011