Château de Vaujours
CastleHidden Treasure
A medieval fortress drowned in its moat, Vaujours combines 13th-century military power with royal romance: Louise de La Vallière, Louis XIV's favourite, held her destiny here.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the heart of northern Touraine, the Château de Vaujours stands like a stone ghost in the middle of its ponds, a striking vestige of a double fortified enclosure whose silhouette, cut by the waters, evokes both the grandeur and the melancholy of forgotten medieval fortresses. Built on an artificial island whose moat was fed by a vast body of water, this listed monument is one of the most elaborate defensive compositions in the medieval Loire Valley, all too often overshadowed by the Renaissance châteaux of the valley. What distinguishes Vaujours from the majority of fortresses in the Loire Valley is the intelligent superposition of two distinct enclosures - the western bailey and the castle proper to the east - linked by a system of bridges, posterns and covered walkways. Visitors to the ruins immediately understand the implacable logic of a defensive system in which every entrance is doubled, every corner flanked and every approach watched from a cylindrical tower. The whole bears witness to the kind of accomplished military thinking that was typical of the great castles of 13th-century Touraine. The visit takes place in an atmosphere of rare ruinist romanticism. The curtain walls are covered in tall grass, the gutted towers are covered in ivy, and the contours of the masonry are blurred by the reflections of the pond. For photographers and history buffs, every angle offers an unusual composition. The cylindrical keep, sentinel of the north-west corner, offers the most eloquent view of the spatial organisation of the fortress. The natural setting is an integral part of the experience: the Domaine de Vaujours, nestling in a landscape of hedged farmland and ponds typical of the Baugeois and northern Touraine regions, is an invitation to take a soothing and erudite stroll. The chapel rebuilt in the 15th century, whose ruins line the north courtyard, is a reminder that the daily life of such a fortress was not only military, but also spiritual and sumptuous.
Architecture
Vaujours castle stands out for the exceptional coherence of its castral layout, organised around the principle of defence in depth so dear to the military engineers of the 13th century. The fortress occupies an island position, surrounded by a pond whose waters fed directly into the moat - a hydraulic device that made any hostile approach particularly perilous. The complex is divided into two fortified units running east-west: the baille to the west, an outer enclosure for defensive and logistical purposes, and the castle proper to the east, housing the residential and symbolic functions. The main entrance, to the west of the bailey, is defended by two cylindrical towers flanking a flying bridge - an offensive device designed to cut off all communications in the event of an assault. A bastion flanked these defences to the north, while a barracks in the south-west corner connected with a round tower provided cover for this sector. The main courtyard was accessed via a drawbridge and a postern flanked by a cylindrical tower on the north side. The keep, a large cylindrical tower in the north-west corner of the castle, was the centrepiece of the system: massive and dominant, it symbolised the lord's authority and provided the ultimate protection. The inner courtyard was bordered to the north by the chapel, rebuilt in the 15th century in the late flamboyant Gothic style, of which a few evocative remains remain. To the south was the living quarters, which no longer exist. The covered parapet walk linking the east gate to the courtyard, the bastions projecting into the moats to the north-east and south, and the outworks bear witness to a particularly sophisticated defensive design. The materials used - local tufa and Touraine limestone - give the surviving ruins the light colour typical of the region's architecture.
Related Figures
Hugues Ier d'Alluye — premier baron connu, attesté en 978, ancêtre de la lignée qui donna naissance au châteauHugues VI d'Alluye — probable commanditaire de la construction fortifiée vers 1250Rotron de Montfort — co-candidat à la construction, figure de la noblesse tourangelle du XIIIe siècleJean V de Bueil — seigneur du XVe siècle, auteur des embellissements et de la reconstruction de la chapelleAntoine de Bueil — fils de Jean V, époux de Jeanne de France, fille naturelle de Charles VII et d'Agnès SorelJeanne de France — fille de Charles VII et d'Agnès Sorel, épouse d'Antoine de Bueil, liant Vaujours à la royautéLouise de La Vallière — duchesse et favorite de Louis XIV, à qui le roi offrit le domaineThomas Stanhope-Holland — acquéreur en 1815, responsable du démantèlement partiel du château comme carrière
