Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château des Places is a former castle located in Crozant, in the Creuse department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Originally, it belonged in the middle of the 15th century to the Gondeville family, notably to Jean Peynot, squire, who held it in 1470. The latter officially received the hostel and noble place of the Places in 1493. The major transformations of the site were carried out in the 17th century, after its acquisition in 1640 by Gabriel Henri Foucault, seigneur of Saint-Germain, and his son, who renovated the buildings still visible today.

In 1786 Sylvain de La Marche, lord of Puyguillon, became owner and conceived a new castle project, never realized because of the theft of stones prepared during the Revolution. These materials were eventually used to build a modern home. The current remains include a ruins pavilion (old double drawbridge châtelet of the 15th century), a classical chapel of 1686 decorated with the coat of arms of the Foucault, and a dovecote without roof. The chapel, porch and dovecote have been listed as historical monuments since 1992.

The Palace of Places inspired the artist Maurice Utrillo, who painted it in 1929. Its history reflects the architectural and social changes of the 15th to 18th centuries, marked by feudal conflicts, seigneurial transformations and revolutionary upheavals. The ditches, once present, have now disappeared, leaving only traces of cannons and turrets added in the eighteenth century.

External links