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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Château de Gajac

Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Gironde, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Le château en totalité (cad. BI 188 (pont et terrasse), 189, 190, 192, 193 (château), 195, 196, 609, 610, 611, 612 (douves), 607, 608 (emprise des anciennes douves)) : inscription par arrêté du 26 avril 2013
Protection dates
2013/04/26 : inscrit MH
Type
château
Main period of construction
4e quart 15e siècle, 16e siècle
Later work
18e siècle
Ownership
propriété privée
Address
;
Commune
Saint-Médard-en-Jalles
Département
Gironde
Region
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Country
France
Coordinates
44.88529, -0.69969
Mérimée reference
PA00083786

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1675 map "La Riviere de la Garomne et la Dordogne et le pays aux environs de Bordeaux" (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library).

Get directions ↗

This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

Château (qui se trouve près de l'intersection de l'avenue Descartes et de la rue Charles-Daumel) édifié au 14e ou au 15e siècle, acquis entre 1541 et 1573 par Pierre Ayquem de Montaigne, oncle de l'écrivain. Il fut attaqué pendant les guerres de Religion. La famille de Montaigne le conserva jusqu'à la Révolution et en modifia, aux 17e et 18e siècles, l'aspect primitif. Vendu comme bien national à la Révolution. C'est un édifice de plan carré flanqué de quatre tours d'angle et ceint de douves sur trois côtés. Un petit pont enjambe le dossé ouest. Trois des tours sont rondes, la quatrième est carrée. Elles ont toutes perdu leurs toitures pendant la Seconde guerre mondiale. Les dépendances sont situées au nord. Cet édifice demeure l'un des rares châteaux forts dans le Bordelais, la plupart ayant disparu.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Castle (which is found near the intersection of avenue Descartes and rue Charles-Daumel) built in the 14th or 15th century, acquired between 1541 and 1573 by Pierre Ayquem de Montaigne, uncle of the writer. It was attacked during the Wars of Religion. The Montaigne family retained it until the Revolution and modified, in the 17th and 18th centuries, its original aspect. Sold as national property at the Revolution. It is a square-plan building flanked by four corner towers and surrounded by ditches on three sides. A small bridge spans the west ditch. Three of the towers are round, the fourth is square. They all lost their roofs during the Second World War. The outbuildings are situated to the north. This building remains one of the rare fortified castles in the Bordelais, most having disappeared.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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