La Tour-sur-Orb : Former residence of the Abbés de Joncels

This residence is sometimes called "the tower" and sometimes "the Château de Brousson". The current structure of the castle would have been built in the first years of the 17th century, between 1645 and probably before 1660. The chapel was added between 1669 and 1670. The castle formed a quadrilateral around a rectangular courtyard, and is separated from the road by small annexed buildings which served as dependencies. The central building is flanked by two wings. The west wing keeps only a few old elements, such as vaulted rooms in the basement and the chimney of the council room. The wing is also underwent some modifications to its upper floors, while keeping three arches in basket handle at the lower level. The main door is decorated with a framing with bosses, the long references of which mark the crossettes. It is surmounted by a broken pediment with rampants in the shape of S, surrounding a tabernacle with a small broken triangular pediment. The sides of the broken pediment are decorated with heat pots. Inside the Tabernacle, a large cartridge displays the coat of arms of Thézan-Poujol. On each side of the tabernacle, there are two large wing volutes which end in acanthus leaves. The door opens directly to a transverse gallery which was originally connected to the two open galleries of the side wings. Behind is the staircase cage, separated from the gallery by an arc in basket handle, and the starting volley, separated by a semicircular arc. The ramp includes four balusters tilted per stolen, as well as corner balusters integrated into the pilasters. The best preserved gallery is that of the East, which has three arches in basket handle based on square pillars with carved capitals. A balustrade extended along these arcades and at their base, although there are only few traces left today.