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Château de Sainte-Mère
The castle of Sainte-Mère, in the Gers, is a Gascon castle built around 1277 by Géraud II de Monlezun, Bishop of Lectoure, who stayed here; it served as a residence for the bishops until the Revolution. The old idea that it was a frontier post facing English possessions is now questioned: with no ditch or curtain wall, it was not designed for a long defence.
It is a small, tall, square building: the central block measures about 18 by 11 metres and 15 metres high, with two almost square towers of 26 and 20 metres. It has few openings, mostly cross-shaped arrow slits. Sold as national property, it lost its floors and roof and is now a ruin, but the masonry is well preserved. Registered in 1943, it was listed as a historic monument in 1977.
