Château du Boy

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 castle and property were part, until the Revolution, of the possessions of the du Tournel family, barons who claimed to be descendants of the patrician Bassianus Pomponius. At the end of the 19th century, the owners stripped the building of its interesting parts, furniture and carved architectural pieces. At the beginning of the 20th century, the rooms were used as warehouses by neighbouring farmers. In 1936, the use of the buildings was granted to the Sisters of Providence to lodge orphan girls during vacations. The 14th-century castle was built on the site of a fortlet long occupied by Roman legions. The building presents a quadrilateral plan around a 15th-century inner courtyard, with cloister on the ground floor and a gallery at each floor, that of the first storey being pierced by ten Renaissance windows (two have disappeared). Two stone staircases, situated in a tower, at the north-east and south-west angles, give access to the floors. On the first floor opened Gothic windows of which only one was able to survive the sales of the 19th century. In the 15th century, addition of the inner galleries of the Renaissance courtyard. During the Wars of Religion, in the 16th century, the castle was taken, occupied and partly demolished by captain Merle who had lodged his cavalry there. The restoration undertaken in the 17th century brought the castle up to date (filling of the moats, disappearance of the drawbridge, reworking of the façade).