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Origin and history

The Château de la Tranchade, located in Garat in Charente, is a strategic building overlooking the Anguienne valley. Built at the end of the 14th century by Aymard de Pressac, its 40-metre square dungeon was used to protect the southeast access to Angoulême. This site was in the Middle Ages the heart of a major seigneury of Angoumois, encompassing several parishes such as Dirac, Soyaux or L.

In the 12th century, the Tranchade belonged to the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Cybard, before being assigned to Gérard Ramnulphe in exchange for royalties. During the Hundred Years' War, the Pressacs made it a strong place. In 1492, Baud de Saint-Gelais l'acheta, then the Nesmond family, in the 16th century, added two Renaissance wings and carved his weapons on the moat. The castle, often besieged for its key role in the control of Angoulême, passed into the hands of influential families like the Normans of La Tranchade.

In 1667, François III Normand de Puygrelier acquired the estate and adopted the name Normand de La Tranchade, marking the climax of this lineage. The family provided several mayors to Angoulême, including François I, who died in 1588 during an assault, and Joseph, mayor in the 19th century. In 1792 the castle, sold as a national property, was bought in 1816 by a lawyer, Mr.Valet, whose daughter married a Normand de La Tranchade. The future Napoleon III was received there in 1852.

The architecture combines a medieval dungeon with intact mâchicoulis, moats carved from the rock, and a Renaissance portal of 1598 decorated with shells and the motto "In fide quiesco". The square wings, built in the 16th and 17th centuries, frame a courtyard where a 40-metre deep well and a vaulted chapel testify to its seigneurial past. A cross of Malta and carved shields, including those of Nesmond and Normand, adorn the facades.

In the 20th century, the château, delabrated after the phylloxera crisis (1890), was saved in 1929 by Professor Louis Portes, then preserved by Count Amédée de Lorgeril until the storm Martin in 1999. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1970, it now houses receptions in its Chevalerie Hall, restored in 2003. Its history reflects the seigneurial struggles, family alliances and restorations that have shaped this Angoumois heritage.

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