We report a study of the Mott insulator ${\mathrm{La}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3{\mathrm{Fe}}_2{\mathrm{Se}}_2$ by means of ${}^{139}\mathrm{La}$ nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR). The NQR spectra evidence a single La site in the paramagnetic phase and two inequivalent La sites, La1 and La2, in the antiferromagnetic phase. These two sites are characterized by different quadrupole couplings, indicative of distinct lattice configurations segregated in domains. The dependence of the quadrupole coupling for La2 on temperature suggests that the structural distortion is driven by the magnetic order parameter. The nuclear transverse relaxation rate $1/T_2$ evidences fluctuations in the paramagnetic phase with characteristic frequencies well below the Heisenberg exchange frequency and likely associated with nematic fluctuations.

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• Magnetism
• Nematic order
• Chalcogenides
• Iron-based superconductors
• Strongly correlated systems
• Nuclear quadrupole resonance