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

Fortified place already existing in the 8th century. In 1142, construction of the current two-storey Romanesque chapel. Enlargement of the castle enclosure in the early 13th century, with six semi-circular towers flanking the walls, as well as the chapel. In 1376, Count Jean de Berry seized the castle and drove out the English. In 1589, the building was freed from the Leaguers who occupied it. Around 1597, restoration of the gate with double drawbridge and the watch tower. At this time, the castle welcomed Marie de Medici and Louis XIII. In 1665, part of the old fortress was razed to allow the construction of a princely dwelling of which the north wing survives. The sculptures were executed by Jean Tavate, according to a design by Bullet. In 1688, a gallery, now disappeared, was added to the complex. In the 18th century, the buildings deteriorated. The Convention used the castle as a prison and provisions store. In 1822, a fire destroyed the right wing and the dome of the classical buildings; only the left wing was preserved. The complex presents an enclosure flanked from the 13th century with a fortified entrance portal from the 17th century and surmounted by machicolations. This door opens onto the lower courtyard dominated to the west by the terrace of the dwelling and closed to the east by a curtain wall flanked by a quadrangular tower, served by a spiral staircase in masonry. Against the enclosure leans the keeper's house. To the north, the lower courtyard is closed by the Romanesque chapel. The medieval enclosure is flanked by seven semi-circular towers at the first level vaulted in squinch. To the north, two towers should correspond to an old entrance gatehouse. The wall-walk preserves, over a small section, its original crenellation. The 17th-century dwelling presented a central body surmounted by a majestic dome flanked by two similar wings (west wing and part of the south wing spared by the fire). The interior lost its original layout during alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The north terrace of the dwelling is supported by a long room, called the "guard room", with barrel vault. Parallel to this room, to the south, another large room formerly vaulted in barrel and pierced with lancet windows, constitutes the first level of a Romanesque keep whose dimensions make it one of the largest in the west.