Château

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

History

First castle built in the middle of the 12th century, at the location of the cloister of the canons of the collegiate church of Saint-Liphard. It is a square tower flanking the south face of the bell tower of the collegiate church, itself flanked to the south by two round towers. In the 13th century, the castle was abandoned by the bishops of Orléans and served as a prison. From 1209, construction of a larger castle, of rectangular plan, flanked by four towers. The guardroom, the vaulted lower hall with rib vault, the underground passages and the cellars are the last elements constituting the 13th-century castle, episcopal palace of Orléans at the time. During the Hundred Years' War, the castle was transformed into a fortress and was relieved by Joan of Arc on 14 June 1429. At the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, construction of a building block to the north, comprising a tower with a drawbridge. From the Wars of Religion onwards, the castle was abandoned until the beginning of the 18th century. Bishop Fleuriau d'Armenonville then undertook to transform the castle into a pleasure residence. The central part of the main building was replaced by a courtyard bordered by corner pavilions. The facades were reopened symmetrically and dressed in classical style. The towers were also reopened and lost their machicolations. In the middle of the 18th century, addition of a wing to the south-east with a staircase serving the storeys of this wing. In 1784, the chapel was built in neoclassical style, with statuary executed by the sculptor Delaistre. The two pavilions of the park are contemporary with this chapel.