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Origin and history

Rochefort-en-Yvelines Castle is a former castle today in a state of ruins, located on a rocky spur in the Yvelines department. Built between the 11th and 12th centuries, it served as a watchtower on the road to Chartres, allowing for the control of pilgrims travelling to the cathedral. Its remains include courtines, a tower, and the foundations of a quadrangular donjon in opus spicatum, typical of medieval defensive architecture.

Gui I of Rochefort, nicknamed Le Rouge and from the family of Montlhéry, reportedly erected the first feudal castle in the late 11th century, during the reign of Philip I. This strategic site also housed the present church, built below, as well as a primitive village surrounded by ramparts. Archaeological traces reveal an occupation prior to this period, but successive wars and heritages have profoundly altered the site.

Destroyed during the Wars of Religion in the 16th century, the old castle retained only two courtesies and one tower. At the beginning of the 17th century, Hercules de Rohan, Duke of Montbazon, built a new seigneurial residence, now extinct. Rohan's family owned the estate for 235 years, until Charles-Louis Gaspard de Rohan erected a third castle at the end of the 18th century. In 1830, the estate, then depreciated, was ceded to the family of Bernis, then sold in 1855 to the La Rochefoucauld.

The current ruins, partially classified as historical monuments in 1931, include an irregular fortified enclosure of 1,650 m2, adapted to topography. The site also includes a triangular base and a 19th-century transverse wall, reflecting late redevelopments. The 150-metre-long rocky spur offered an ideal defensive position, with a 40-metre elevation from the village.

Near the church, located on a rocky slope, remains the remains of the first village of Rochefort, surrounded by a one metre thick rampart. This site illustrates the evolution of a medieval fortress as a seigneurial residence, then in picturesque ruins, while preserving remarkable architectural elements such as the opus spicatum of the dungeon or the sandstone and flint walls.

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