Castle of Aron en Mayenne

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Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Aron was a fortified building located in the countryside, in the present town of Aron, Mayenne (Land of the Loire). Built in the 15th century, it was surrounded by double ditches and walls, now missing. Its ruins, including a round tower surrounded by a closed ditch, are now integrated into the Forges d'Aron Park, the only material testimony of its existence.

The Hundred Years' War, then the League's conflicts, accelerated its destruction. In 1659 Madeleine de Souvré, Marquise de Sablé and widow of Philippe-Emmanuel de Laval-Bois-Dauphin, described in an admission given to Cardinal Mazarin a castle in ruins: a house body, a tower covered with slates, a cellar and a kennel, all surrounded by water ditches and collapsed walls. The gardens, orchards and designated lands, such as the Petit-Parc, were then in wasteland or converted into farmland.

The mystery surrounds the history of this castle, whose archives are sorely lacking. The remaining tower, isolated in the middle of the old outbuildings (forges, gardens), raises questions: its exact use and its role in the defensive whole remain unknown. The remains, though fragmentary, evoke a modest fortress, perhaps linked to local metallurgical activity, as suggested by the proximity of the large forges mentioned in 17th century sources.

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