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Origin and history

The castle of Aon is a 13th century fortress built on a castral motte in Hontanx, in the Landes. This site was already occupied by a Romanesque church dedicated to Saint-Blaise, built between the 11th and 12th centuries, which later became the Castral chapel. The motte, typical of medieval defensive architecture, served as the basis for a first wooden castle erected in the 11th century, later replaced by the current brick structure.

The strong house, massive and unopened, probably dates from around 1300. It was completed in the 17th century by a more comfortable home, reflecting the evolution of seigneurial needs. The chapel of Saint-Blaise, originally of a simple plan, was enlarged in the 14th century with the addition of side chapels and a polygonal bedside. The frescoes of the seventeenth and fourteenth centuries, including a medieval female representation, remain inside.

The castle is linked to regional political history: it welcomed Edward I, King of England and Duke of Aquitaine, in 1287. The seigneury of Hontanx, attested from the twelfth century, was first mentioned in 1279. The site, owned by the municipality since the 20th century, has been protected by historical monuments since 1988, extended in 2019 to the whole estate (motte, chapel, house). A restoration is now envisaged to enhance this heritage.

Architecturally, Aon Castle illustrates the transition between medieval fortification and seigneurial residence. The castral motte, an essential defensive element in the 11th–12th centuries, gradually lost its military role to a residential function. The remains of painted decorations and the brick structure show the successive adaptations of the building, while the chapel retains traces of its uninterrupted religious use since the Middle Ages.

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