Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de La Roche Courbon, located in Saint-Porchaire in Charente-Maritime, is a building dating back to the 15th century with the construction of a triangular fortress by Jehan II de Latour. This castle, naturally defended by marshes and endowed with massive towers like that of the Fuye, reflects the tensions of the time between French and Anglo-Aquitaines. The underlying caves, occupied since the Moustarian (120 000 B.C.), attest to an ancient human presence on this strategic site bordering the Sparrow, where remains also Gallo-Roman and Merovingian remains.

In the 17th century, Jean-Louis de Courbon radically transformed the fortress into an elegant residence, inspired by French gardens – earlier than those of Versailles. The house body opens to light with large windows, a balcony supported by Tuscan columns, and a monumental staircase descending to terraces decorated with Louis XIII pavilions. A fire in the early eighteenth century partially destroyed the east wing and two towers, as evidenced by a plan by Claude Masse (1710). The beautifications continued in 1785 under the Marquis Sophie-Jacques de Courbon Blénac, which added an interior staircase and armored grilles.

The castle experienced a decline in the 19th century, saved in extremis by the writer Pierre Loti, seduced by its ruins which he nicknamed the "Château de La Belle au bois dormant". His call in Le Figaro (1908) enabled Paul Chénereau to buy the estate in 1920 and to undertake a major restoration: reconstruction of the stilt gardens (1976–2000) to counter the collapse due to the marshes, restoration of the painting cabinet, and creation of a chapel and a theatre in the outbuildings. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1946, the castle reopens after the war and today offers visits, cultural events and a prehistoric path (PrehistoZen) highlighting its rich past.

The gardens, labeled "Remarkable Garden" since 2004, illustrate the ingenuity of their reconstruction on 2,500 piles buried 13 metres deep. They combine geometrical parts, water room, and dock, while the Museum of Prehistory in the porch tower exhibits artifacts from the Moustarian, Aurignacian and Magdalenian eras, including an engraved plaque discovered in 2007. Storm Martin (1999) devastates 90 hectares of the surrounding forest, leading to a replanting campaign supported by the government and the AMICOUR association.

The history of the castle is also marked by influential owners, such as Jean-Baptiste Mac Nemara, whose fortune from the slave plantations of Santo Domingo allowed the acquisition of the estate in 1756. The Revolution saved the castle thanks to the non-migration of the Marquis, but it was auctioned in 1817. In the 20th century, the "Sound and Light" shows initiated by Paul Chénereau in the 1960s, with actors from the Comédie Française, reinforced his cultural influence. Today, the estate combines historical heritage, tourist activities (escape game, medieval festivals) and ecological preservation.

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