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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of Brézé, located on lands owned by the lords of Brézé since the 11th century, is mentioned as a castle in 1063. The first lords, close to the Abbey of Fontevraud, gradually yielded the seigneury to collateral branches, such as the Maillé. In 1448, Gilles de Maillé-Brézé obtained royal permission to strengthen the site, digging ditches of 10 to 12 meters, deep 18 meters in the 16th century. The stones extracted are used to build the Renaissance castle, built around 1500 by Arthur de Maillé-Brézé in an Italian style, with outbuildings like a dovecote of 3,700 bolts.

In the 17th century, the estate became a marquisat under Louis XIII, passed to Urbain de Maillé-Brézé, brother-in-law of Richelieu. His son Armand, great admiral of France, died without an heir, and the property belonged to Claire-Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, wife of the Grand Condé. Involved in the Fronde (1653), the castle was occupied by the royal troops before being exchanged in 1682 for the castle of La Galissonnière. Thomas de Dreux, new owner, obtained confirmation of the title of Marquis in 1685.

In the 19th century, the Dreux-Brézé family radically transformed the castle: Henri-Évrard extended the Renaissance wing, while his grandson, with architect René Hodé, gave him a neo-Gothic style (1856–96). Hodé adds a square tower, a rotunda, and decorates the Grande galerie, while preserving the bedroom of Richelieu, the only room of the 16th century intact. The undergrounds, dug over 4 km, house troglodytic rooms (blangery, cooler) and a medieval clover refuge, equipped for extended seats. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1979, the castle has been owned by the Colbert family since 1959.

The site also includes remarkable dependencies: an orangery, a supply, and troglodytic stables. The chapel of Sainte-Catherine, destroyed and rebuilt several times (XIII, XVI, XVIII centuries), illustrates the successive changes. The castle inspires Marcel Proust in Du Côté de Guermantes, evoking his prestige linked to the Bourbon-Condé, "Princes du sang" in the 17th century. Today, it is visited for its hybrid architecture, spectacular ditches and unique underground network in Europe.

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