List of castles in the Pays de la Loire
This list of castles in the Pays de la Loire is a list of medieval castles or château forts in the region in western France.
Links in italics are links to articles in the French Wikipedia.
| Name |
Date |
Condition |
Image | Ownership / Access |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château d'Ancenis | 15th century | Substantially intact |
|
||
| Château de Blain | 13-16th century | Substantially intact |
|
Remodelled 16th century. | |
| Château de la Bretesche | 15th century | Reconstructed |
|
Reconstructed 19th century | |
| Château de Careil | 14-16th century | Substantially intact |
|
||
| Château des ducs de Bretagne | 1466 | Restored |
|
Ville de Nantes | Houses Nantes History Museum. |
| Château de Châteaubriant | 11-16th century | Intact |
|
Medieval castle remodelled as Renaissance château. | |
| Château de Clisson | 13-15th century | Ruins |
|
[1] | |
| Château de la Motte-Glain | 15-17th century | Substantially intact | Remodelled 17th century. | ||
| Château de Pornic | 12-15th century | Restored |
|
Private | Restored 19th century, belonged to Gilles de Rais in 15th century.[2] |
| Château de Ranrouët | 12th century | Ruins |
|
[3] |
| Name |
Date |
Condition |
Image | Ownership / Access |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château d'Angers | 13th century | Substantially intact |
|
City of Angers | Walls nearly 2,000 ft (610 m) in circumference, incorporating 17 towers originally 130 ft (40 m) high.[4] |
| Château de Baugé | 15th century | Intact |
|
Built as hunting lodge. | |
| Château de Bourmont | 16-19th century | Intact and extended |
|
Private | Extended in Neo-Gothic style |
| Château de Brissac | 15-17th century | Rebuilt |
|
Private | Damaged during French Wars of Religion, rebuilt 1611 in baroque style.[5] |
| Château de Champtocé | 13-16th century | Ruins | |||
| Château de Montreuil-Bellay | 11-13th century | Substantially intact |
|
Private | Divided into rental units in 1822, restored after 1860.[6] |
| Château de Montsoreau | 1455 | Restored |
|
Département | Ruinous by late 19th century, restored, houses the Musée des Goums Marocains.[7] |
| Château du Plessis-Bourré | 1468-1472 | Intact | Private (open to the public) | Externally unchanged since the 15th century, working drawbridge. | |
| Château du Plessis-Macé | 13-16th century | Intact |
|
Converted to house 15th century. | |
| Château de Pouancé | 12-13th century | Ruins | Considered second fortress of Anjou, after Angers. | ||
| Château de Saumur | 12th century | Restored | City of Saumur | Page for September in the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry depicts the Chateau as it looked in 1410.[8] | |
| Château de la Turmelière | 13th century | Ruins | 19th century building of same name nearby. |
| Name |
Date |
Condition |
Image | Ownership / Access |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château du Bois Thibault | 15th century | Ruins | Commune de Lassay-les-Châteaux | On site of earlier castle. | |
| Château de Bouillé | 15-16th century | Ruins | |||
| Château de la Courbe de Brée | 13-16th century | Substantially intact | |||
| Château de Courtaliéru | 13th century | Earthworks | Destroyed 15th century. | ||
| Château de Lassay | 12-15th century | Intact | |||
| Château de Laval | 12-15th century | Intact |
|
Comprises medieval and 19th century buildings. | |
| Château de Mayenne | 11-12th century | Intact | Museum | Incorporates remains of Carolingian palace of c.900. | |
| Château de Montjean | 15th century | Ruins | |||
| Château de Mortiercrolles | 12-15th century | Substantially intact | Transitional style between Gothic and Renaissance. | ||
| Château de Sainte-Suzanne | 11th century | Ruins | |||
| Château de Thorigné-en-Charnie | 11-15th century | Ruins |
| Name |
Date |
Condition |
Image | Ownership / Access |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château de Ballon | 15th century | Intact | |||
| Château de Bazouges | 15th century | Intact |
|
Private | |
| Château du Mans | 11-15th century | Ruins | |||
| Château de Courtanvaux | 14-15th century | Intact |
|
Commune de Bessé-sur-Braye | |
| Château de Sillé-le-Guillaume | 15-17th century | Intact |
|
Commune | Remodelled 16-17th centuries. |
| Name |
Date |
Condition |
Image | Ownership / Access |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château d'Apremont | 1534-42 | Substantially intact | |||
| Château de Commequiers | 15th century | Ruins | |||
| Château de Noirmoutier | 12th century | Restored | Commune | [9] | |
| Château de Pouzauges | 12th century | Ruins |
|
||
| Château de Sainte-Hermine | 13-17th century | ||||
| Château de Talmont | 12th century | Ruins |
|
||
| Château de Tiffauges | 12-16th century | Ruins | Known as Bluebeard's castle, associated with the notorious murderer, Gilles de Rais (c. 1405 – 1440). | ||
| Tour Mélusine (keep) and fortified city | 12th or 13th century | Fragment |
|
Town of Vouvant | Keep and a lot of the wall enclosure, like the last city's gate, survives. |
| Tour de Moricq | 15th century | Substantially intact |
|
Keep survives. | |
| Vieux-château de l'Île d'Yeu | 14th century | Ruins |
See also
References
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Clisson, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Pornic, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château du Ranroët (ruines), Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château d'Angers, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Brissac, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Montreuil-Bellay, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Montsoreau, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Saumur, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Noirmoutier, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)























