Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Sedan Castle, also known as the upper castle, was erected from 1424 by Évrard II de La Marck-Arenberg on a rocky spur overlooking the Meuse, in Sedan (Ardennes). Originally, the site housed a Benedictine Priory of the 11th century, Saint Martin, whose foundations remain in the courtyard. Évrard II, an ally of Charles VII during the Hundred Years' War, built in six years a triangular mansion with two twin towers, a residential dungeon and the Big Tower. This first castle, with still medieval defences (heard, harrow), was enlarged by his son Jean de La Marck, then massively transformed by his grandson Robert II from 1495.

In the 16th century, under Robert IV of La Marck and his wife Françoise de Brézé, the fortress became a modern citadel. Between 1530 and 1572, four triangular bastions were added (Governor, Fourchu, Ladies, King), carried by engineers such as Marin Fourre or Jean Errard. The ramparts were thickened up to 26 metres to resist artillery, and a princely residence of Renaissance style, attributed to Philibert Delorme, was built. The principality of Sedan, independent de facto, however, was attached to France in 1642 after the rebellion of the last prince, Frédéric-Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, against Richelieu.

Having become a royal property, the castle was adapted by Vauban (Porte des Princes, 1699) and served as a garrison. Napoleon I transferred the armor of the princes to Paris in 1803. The site marked history at the Battle of Sedan (1870), where Napoleon III capitulated against the Prussians. Decommissioned militarily after 1871, some of the bastions were dynamited. In the 20th century, the castle became an internment camp during the First World War (1917–1918), then a major tourist site after its surrender to the city in 1962. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1965, it now houses a museum, a hotel and medieval events, attracting more than 145,000 visitors annually.

Architecturally, the castle combines seven levels, walls of 7 to 27 metres thick, and defensive elements such as hutches or horned structures (partly destroyed). Its Palace of the Princes (17th century), today in ruins, illustrates the decline of the fortress to the benefit of the castle below. Recent restorations (roof rebuilt in 2012) have preserved its emblematic spaces, such as the castral chapel or cannon terraces. In 2023, he was elected a favorite monument of the French.

External links