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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Sarzay, built in the 15th and 16th centuries, was first a castral motte surrounded by ditches, transformed into an imposing fortress by the family of Barbançois, lords of the place since the middle of the 14th century. This line of knights, active during the Hundred Years' War, erected a house body flanked by four towers crowned with machicolis around 1440, resistant to English invasions, the Wars of Religion, the Fronde and the Revolution. The seigneury became a marquisate in 1651, before being sold in 1720, marking the end of the Barbançois era.

In 1538, a judicial duel opposed Hélion de Barbançois, then 70 years old, to François de Saint-Julien in front of King Francis I. The castle, intact after the conflicts, later inspired George Sand for his novel Le Meunier d'Angibault (1844), where she described him as an "elegant castel." Ranked a historic monument in 1912, it was acquired in the 1980s by the Hurbain family, who undertook its restoration despite judicial difficulties for unauthorized work.

The current structure consists of a rectangular dungeon-logis with four round towers, a fortified chapel in the enclosure, and restored deep moat. The interior rooms, furnished from the time, retain their authenticity, while the structure of the towers offers a view of the Berrichon landscape. A medieval hall and outbuildings converted into guest rooms complete today the whole, piercing the mystery of this fortress having traversed centuries without major damage.

Barbançois' family, owners for nearly 400 years, marked the local history by their resistance to the English, as in 1360, when Guillaume de Barbançois drove the troops of La Châtre before looting the city. The castle, located at the edge of the Kingdom of France opposite the English territories (Poitou, Limousin, Aquitaine), played a strategic role during the Hundred Years' War, before becoming a symbol of regional stability.

The remains of the first enclosure, pierced by a porch with 15th century coats of arms, evoke about thirty towers today disappeared. The lower courtyard houses 15th and 19th century buildings, while the chapel tower, the only remaining of the early enclosure, recalls the religious origins of the site, linked to the archdiocese of Bourges. Sarzay, raised to the rank of city in 1300, illustrates the evolution of a Berrichon village into a place of feudal power.

Since the 1980s, the Hurbain have revived the castle, despite conflicts with historic monuments for unapproved works (remediation of moat, construction of halls). Sentenced to a fine of 30,000 francs and six months' suspended imprisonment, Richard Hurbain, a former meter reader at Seine-Saint-Denis, incarnates the heritage passion in the face of administrative constraints. Today, the site combines tourist visits, accommodation and preservation of an exceptional medieval heritage.

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