Palais des Évêques, Episcopal palace in Saint-Lizier, France.

The Palais des Évêques rises above the citadel of Saint-Lizier, in Ariège. Its oldest part, the 13th-century Palais Vieux, was enlarged from 1660 under Bishop Bernard Coignet de Marmiesse to its present size. The complex mixes rough brownish-gray masonry with pale beige render, a square tower with a low tiled roof and two taller round towers; the terraces look onto the Pyrenees.

Construction of the episcopal palace began in the 13th century, when it was much smaller than today; this older core is called the Palais Vieux. In 1660 Bishop Bernard Coignet de Marmiesse ordered its enlargement to its present size. The Concordat of 1801 abolished the diocese of Couserans, and the building later served as town hall, prison, mendicity depot, asylum and departmental psychiatric hospital until 1969.

The palace's name comes from the bishops of Couserans, whose seat this was; 77 of them followed one another from the 4th to the 19th century. In the gardens, the site of the 12th-century cloister is still visible, with a Gothic wall tomb (enfeu) and the former chapter house surviving. Above the chapter house, a room held isolation cells for patients in crisis during the asylum period and now displays the building's psychiatric past.

The museum occupies four levels of the former palace, so the visit involves stairs and changes of level. The terraces look out over the Pyrenees chain. In the gardens, the site of the 12th-century cloister is marked by a surviving Gothic enfeu and the old chapter house, now a room on the palace's psychiatric past.

In the palace gardens, the footprint of the 12th-century cloister survives; it is still mentioned in 19th-century writings, though the date of its destruction is unknown. A Gothic wall tomb (enfeu) and the old chapter house remain, and the room above the chapter house, used for temporary isolation cells during the asylum period, now displays the palace's psychiatric past.