Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Manor House of the Court of Aulnays, located in Challain-la-Potherie (Maine-et-Loire), is a former 16th century seigneurial castle surrounded by moat, towers and a drawbridge. Originally, it formed a vast seigneury, including chapel, farmhouses and forests, under the Challain chestnut. His first lords, the Aulnay family, gave up the estate in the 14th century by marriage to Guillaume de la Motte, whose descendants, like Mathurin de la Motte, had the chapel built in 1506, dedicated to Saint Mathurin and Saint Barbe.

In the 16th century, under the family of Beauvau, the manor house was strongly fortified: Gabriel de Beauvau obtained in 1577 the authorization to add drawbridge, cannon guns and towers. The estate, described in 1609 as "a seigneurial house surrounded by moat", then passed to the Le Clerc, who tried unsuccessfully to rebuild the chapel in 1659. During the Vendée wars, the castle, a refuge for the Chouans, was burned several times, especially in 1794 during an attack by the Republican troops.

In the 19th century, the mansion lost some of its structures: the moats were dried up, the chapel converted into a barn, and the stones reused for a new home in 1801. In 1862, a lime oven temporarily exploited the resources of the adjacent pond before the site was partially restored. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1989, it is now open to the public and preserves remains such as the tower, the entrance châtel and the scallops.

The local legend evokes a golden lily emerging from the pond at the dawn of Saint John, symbol of the mysteries attached to this place. Successive families (de la Motte, Beauvau, Le Clerc, Jousselin) marked its history, between medieval fortifications, religious conflicts and agricultural adaptations, reflecting the upheavals of Anjou from the 15th to the 19th century.

Future

It is open to the public throughout the year for visits, but also all kinds of cultural events.

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