Château, actuellement Hôtel de ville et justice de paix

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

The initiative for the construction of a building in the Renaissance style seems to have been given as early as 1518 by Geofroy d'Estissac, bishop of Maillezais. The work began in 1542-1544. After his death, his nephew, Louis d'Estissac, chamberlain of the king, completed the construction around 1566. The regional architect Liénard de la Réaux achieved here one of the most sumptuous buildings of the Renaissance in the region. In the middle of the 18th century, the building was given over to pillage and demolition. In the 19th century, the patron Octave de Rochebrune, to save the remains of the sculpted decoration from ruin, dismantled them and transported them to his castle of Terre-Neuve, at Fontenay-le-Comte where they still remain (entrance porch, chapel door, coffered ceilings, vaults of the grand staircase, chimney). Of the building which was originally to draw an approximately square plan, flanked at its angles by square pavilions and, to the south, by a long gallery of nine arcades, there remains today only a building in an L-shape bordering a square at the centre of the village. Only the east wing and the beginning of the south wing survive, occupied by the chapel and three rectangular pavilions. The northern one has been reduced by the loss of its second storey.