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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château des Places, located 1.8 km southwest of the church of Saint-Étienne de Crozant (Creuse, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), was originally a medieval castle. Its current remains — a ruins pavilion with a double drawbridge and 15th-century cannons, a classical style chapel of Notre-Dame des Places (1686), and a dovecote without a roof — illustrate its evolution between military defense and seigneurial residence. The ditches have now disappeared, and the major transformations, such as the addition of circular turrets in the 18th century, reflect the successive adaptations of the site.

The fief des Places belonged to the family of Gondeville (or Peynot) in the 15th century before being acquired in 1640 by Gabriel Henri Foucault, seigneur of Saint-Germain, who undertook major renovation work. In 1786 Sylvain de La Marche, a new owner, planned a new castle in neoclassical style, but the French Revolution interrupted the project: the stones prepared were stolen and then reused for a modern home. The chapel, decorated with the coat of arms of the Foucault, housed a Pietà stolen in 1977, the object of a local pilgrimage since its discovery in 1664.

Partially listed as historical monuments in 1992 (chapel, porch, dovecote), the site also inspired the artist Maurice Utrillo, who painted it in 1929. The private archives and old photographs reveal lost details, such as a broken roof on the central pavilion or oculus windows. The castle thus embodies the mutations of a limousine seigneury, between medieval heritage, classical embellishments and revolutionary vicissitudes.

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