The nearby site archaeological site of in Saint Antonin dates to the end of the
Upper Paleolithic (
Magdalenian).
Flints from northwestern France and the ]
Périgord have been found in Montricoux and a number of other sites in the Aveyron valley, providing evidence for the travel of ancient nomads through the region. Stone axes have been found in nearby St Laurent, and these and the cave dwellings, flints,
dolmens and a
tumulus known as the Tombeau du Géant (Giant’s Tomb) in the nearby forest of Bretou indicate a human presence since very early times. An
Iron Age tumulus has been discovered in a Montricoux locality named "Quartou” Several Roman roads passed through the municipality: • from
Albi to
Cahors via Montricoux • from Cos to
Cordes through
Réalville,
Bioule, Montricoux,
Bruniquel, and Monceré The town was known as Mormacus in this period, and archaeologists have found Roman coins there stamped with this name. The 13th-century keep of the dominates the cityscape of Montricoux. The
Vaour commandery of the
Knights Templar built it on land they had obtained in 1181 Article 13 of the city charter of January 6, 1277 forbade the townspeople from fishing in their pond, which has since disappeared as the river receded.
Philip IV of France ordered the
mass arrest of the Knights Templar in 1307. He gave their castle in Montricoux to his squire,
Esquieu de Floyran, who had denounced the Templars as heretics. De Florian lost the château in 1322 to the Hospitaliers. On 22 March 1312
Clement V’s
Papal bull Vox in excelso abolished the Templars. The May 1312 bull
Ad Providam allocated all Templar assets to the
Knights Hospitaller. Unlike many neighboring towns, Montricoux remained Catholic during the
French Wars of Religion. except for the keep. The de Malartic family rebuilt the château in the early 18th century. Before that he had laid siege to nearby
Montauban from August to November 1621 but had had to abandon that effort when many of his men fell ill. The church of Saint Pierre until 1790 belonged to the Order of Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem. The entrance porch, built in the same style as the 13th century
abbey of Beaulieu, an octagonal brick tower with miter windows on a square stone
socle, flanked by a turret.
Gargoyles on each corner serve as downspouts. Members of the
maquis, the decentralized French Resistance movement in World War II, were captured in Montricoux and hanged on July 23, 1944 by German soldiers. The Germans had intended to leave the bodies on display but yielded to the protestations of a local pharmacist.
Historic sites and monuments • The church of Saint-Pierre de Montricoux :The interior has a fresco of the
Annunciation by Marcel-Lenoir (1923). :The nave and the lower part of the steeple date from the 12th-13th centuries. :Taken, pillaged and burned by Calvinists in 1568. Keep separately registered as a monument historique 7 November 1927. • Place Marcel-Lenoir Another tower behind the church was destroyed. Three gates topped by turrets also once gave entry to the town: a low gate to the west, the high gate to the east, and the Saint-Antoine gate facing the river. ==See also==