Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Vaucouleurs, located in the commune of the same name in the Grand Est region (département de la Meuse), finds its origins in the 11th century. Étienne de Vaux built a first castle there in 1026, destroyed and rebuilt between 1059 and 1081 by Geoffroy I. Dominating the 30-metre Meuse, the building reaches a length of 150 metres in the 13th and 14th centuries, integrating a castral chapel (Notre-Dame-des-Voûtes) served by the religious of the Priory Saint-Thiebaut. The western wall of the city was confused with that of the castle, whose current remains include the crypt of the chapel and the Porte de France, built in the 13th century.

La Porte de France, crossed by Jeanne d'Arc on 23 February 1429 during his departure for the Hundred Years War, symbolizes the historic role of the site. This gate, at the entrance of both the castle and the city, was restored in 1733. The Castral chapel, vaulted dogives and dedicated to Notre-Dame, was devastated in 1544 during the siege of Charles Quint, then partially rebuilt before being sold as a national property in 1792. Its remains, including the crypt, were classified as historical monuments in 1893, while archaeological excavations of the 1930s-1940s revealed elements now covered by vegetation.

In the 19th century, a project of a national monument to Jeanne d'Arc, initiated in 1890, aimed at restoring the chapel in its 14th century state. Despite the opposition of historian Simeon Luce and the work interrupted in 1905, the crypt was preserved. The remains of the castle and the excavation sites were recorded in 1953. Today, the site mixes medieval ruins (thirty-century bossing apparatus) and jeans, celebrated annually during a medieval festival on February 23.

The castle's materials include bellows and cut stone, while the chapel had a polygonal limestone arrow. The property of the site is shared between the municipality, private individuals and an association. The protected elements include the Porte de France, the crypt, and the grounds of excavations, witnesses to a history marked by conflicts (seat of 1544) and devotion (pilgrimages linked to Joan of Arc).

External links