The castle of Saint-Elix-le-Château was built from 1540, at the initiative of a Capitoul of Toulouse.
Laurent Clary, an architect from Toulouse to whom we owe, among other things, the Donjon du Capitole, drew up the plans.
For many years, the castle was inhabited and enriched by the Marquis de Montespan who found refuge there while his wife, the Marquise de Montespan, was in perfect love with Louis XIV
Louis Henri de Pardaillan de Gondrin, Marquis de Montespan, was born in 1640 and died on December 1st 1691.
He married in February 1663 Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart.
They will have two children.
But this marriage does not suit the Marquise, especially since the Marquis de Montespan is always short of money.
The Marquis de Montespan will go to war, in order to make a fortune and offer a pleasant lifestyle to his wife.
But this will not help the finances of the Marquis warrior.
The King offered him to lead a cavalry company near the Spanish border.
This remoteness has an immense advantage.
The Marquis de Montespan is far from the Marquise and as Madame de Montespan is in love with the King, she becomes his favorite and will become pregnant while she has not seen her husband for almost a year.
Montespan is cuckolded and will make it known to the whole world.
To get revenge, the Marquis decides to catch the pox from the prostitutes in order to infect his wife, so that she will transmit the disease to the king.
The Marquis will not contract any disease.
Montespan can't stand the fact that his wife is the King's favorite and invents another way to make it known.
He arrives at the Court in a black painted carriage, topped with gigantic deer antlers that represent the horns of the cuckold.
He insulted the King in public, which led to his imprisonment.
He will also organize the fake funeral of his wife.
This war between the Marquis and the King is told by Jean Teulé in his book: "Le Montespan".
He died on December 1, 1691, at the age of 51, after having chosen his wife as executor.
The castle today
In the spring of 2018, The castle of Saint-Elix-le-Château was put up for auction. This sale called interactive notary auction took place on Friday, April 20 on the website of the provider "36h Immo", based in Corrèze.
Classified as a historical monument, it was put up for sale at a price of €1.7 million.
Already, in 2014, it had been put up for sale at a price of € 15 million without however finding a buyer.
After having experienced inconveniences over time, it is now in a magnificent state. With a surface area of 2,000 m2 of living space, it also offers a park of 3 hectares.
After many twists and turns, the Saint-Elix castle was sold at auction in July 2022...
The castle
31430 Saint-Elix-le-Château
mairie-st-elix@wanadoo.fr
https://museedupatrimoine.fr/chateau-de-saint-elix-le-chateau-haute-garonne/3425.html
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