At the entrance to the village, a wall of old bricks, a vestige of the enclosure of the De Ranse estate, the origin of which dates back to the Middle Ages, threatens ruin.
Cradle of the current village of Lévignac, the De Ranse estate belonged in the Middle Ages to Bertrand II de L’Isle Jourdain, bishop of Toulouse, owner of thousands of hectares on both sides of the Save and the forest of Bouconne. He inherited the Castel de Lévignac estate to his niece, Dame Thiburge de l’Isle, Countess of Astarac. She bequeaths this estate in her will to the Poor Clare sisters of Toulouse “on condition that they establish a monastery in her castle and collect her mortal remains there”.
It was also at this time that the medieval village developed around the church within the walls. The monastery was destroyed by fire in the 17th century and immediately rebuilt. It was transformed in 1750 and until the Revolution, into a religious boarding school for young girls.
In 1789, after many adventures recounted by local historians, the opposition between the village priest who had taken an oath of loyalty to the Constitution and that of the convent refractory to this oath, led to the definitive closure of this school. In 1793, the estate was sold as national property.
Became property from the Empire until the 20th century, of the Saint Laurens family, their members will follow one another in Lévignac providing two mayors to the commune. One of them will build the very first housing estate in the village with the houses that surround the padouenc. A member of this family, holder of the Legion of Honor, killed in action during the 1914-1918 war, is buried in the village cemetery. This Lévignacaise dynasty died out without heirs with the death of Baron de Ranse, its last representative.
After many negotiations, this area will become property of the municipality with several real estate projects that will not succeed. Its park, declared a Sensitive Natural Space by the county council, could be developed and opened to the public. The remains of the buildings and the perimeter wall which threaten ruin, are currently the object of a private rehabilitation project with the construction of housing whose administrative contours still seem to be defined.
