Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château d'Usson, also known as Château des Égretales, is a Renaissance building from the 2nd quarter of the 16th century, originally located in Échebrune, 7.5 km from Pons in Charente-Maritime. Threatened by ruin, it was dismantled stone by stone in 1889 by William Augereau, owner of the Egreta estate, and rebuilt on its current site, southeast of Pons, near the Seugne valley. The reconstitution, completed in 1890, combines original elements with eclectic additions, such as a fireplace of the castle of Pons or the Regency woodwork of Rosny-sur-Seine, while maintaining a Renaissance style marked by carved facades and turrets.

The castle adopts an atypical U-shaped plan, with a central house body housing a winter garden and wings decorated with Renaissance decorations only on the courtyard side. The original isolated tower, formerly in the centre of a quadrilateral, was moved and joined to a wing. Inside, rooms incorporate heteroclite elements, such as the Orangerie or the Marquise de Pompadour Salon. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1925 for its transplanted facades, the site now combines heritage and leisure, hosting since 1999 the Château des Enigmes, a theme park focused on sensory and playful routes.

Since 1999, the castle has been home to an evolutionary theme park, changing theme every four years (elfes, templiers, musketeers, pirates at present). It offers 27 interactive games in the castle and its wooded park, as well as unusual accommodation: five perched cabins (squirrels, zen, moussaillons, etc.). Historic spaces, such as the Honor Court or Italian gardens, are rented for private events. This dual vocation, both preserved monument and place of entertainment, makes it a unique site in New Aquitaine.

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