Roquelaure

The village is situated on a rocky height near the site of an Iron-Age oppidum and Gallo Roman villa on the neighboring hill of La Ciotat (La Sioutat). The ruins of Roman baths were found in the 18th century, which may be part of the same villa that was discovered more recently in 1898 and excavated in the 1960s. The name Roquelaure means "laurel hill" in Gascon. A medieval fortified town was built at the current location sometime in the 12th century under the auspices of a lord of Roquelaure, and it received its charter (charte de coutumes) in 1244. From the 16th century on, the lords of Roquelaure built and maintained a chapel in the Gothic Church of Saint-Loup. The lords of Roquelaure, including Antoine de Roquelaure (1544–1625), are buried in the church crypt. Antoine de Roquelaure built the nearby château of Rieutort and began refurbishing the castle at Lavardens, a project which was never completed. Francis I had a fort built on the northern slope of the village hill, guarding the road to Peyrusse-Massas, the ruins of which remain. The grounds of the fort have been the Robert Dauzère Stadium since 1969.