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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of Lorges, located in the Côtes-d'Armor, was built between 1721 and 1740 by Guy-Nicolas de Durfort, Duke of Lorges, an aristocrat with a fascinating lifestyle. This imposing monument, characterized by its Mansart roofs and its soberly Breton granite facades, extends over a vast estate including terraces, water mirrors, and stables designed for 200 horses. The property then passed on to the Choiseul-Praslin family, which exploited the local iron ore to create the Pas forges, ensuring industrial activity until the 20th century.

During the French Revolution, the castle became the scene of a caulian drama: Madame Le Frottier de Kérilis, a royalist condemned to death, found refuge there with his sons after a bold escape. Hunted by the Blues, she and one of her children were killed there, leaving a legend of violence (a bloody perron is evoked and twenty dead). The site, uninhabited for two decades, still bears the trace of this tragic episode.

In the 19th century, the railway factory of the estate, modernized by the railway after 1880, survived as a foundry until its abrupt closure in 1978, victim of obsolete techniques and its isolation. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1963, the castle today preserves its architectural complex (central building, pavilions, commons, vegetable garden) and its landscape, witness to its seigneurial and industrial past.

The inscription in the Historical Monuments (26 June 1963) protects not only the castle, but also its surroundings: terraces, water rooms, esplanade, and lower courtyard. The protected elements reflect the Duke of Lorges' desire to create an autarchic estate, where architectural prestige and economic ambition combine between mining and agriculture (large vegetable garden, monumental stables).

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