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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Chelleau Fort designates two separate buildings located near Dormelles and Villecerf, near Fontainebleau. The first castle, built between the 11th and 12th centuries, was a fortress surrounded by an enclosure of 6 meters high and 1.3 meters thick, without central dungeon. Interior buildings seemed limited to temporary shelters. This castle was modified in the 15th century, during the Hundred Years War, then confiscated as national property after the French Revolution before being redeemed and restored by its descendants in 1937.

The second castle, erected in the years 1540 for Anne de Pisseleu, Duchess of Etampes and favorite of François I, was designed by architect Pierre Chambiges. This castle, inspired by the style of the first Muette, was sold in the 17th century to Pierre Le Charron, a courtesan of Henry IV, and then transformed for Gabrielle d'Estrées. Renamed Château de Saint-Ange in homage to the Castel Santo Angelo of Rome, it was destroyed in 1803. The ruins and their park were protected in 1951.

The remains of the first castle, including the enclosures and their towers, have been listed in the Historical Monuments since 1975. The site, marked by successive transformations, illustrates the architectural and political evolution of the region, from medieval conflicts to Renaissance redevelopments.

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