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Origin and history

Cormes Castle, located in Saint-Cyr-en-Val in the Loiret, is a long Renaissance house dating from the 1st quarter of the 16th century, built on the remains of an ancient castle dismantled during the Hundred Years War. Its facades, marked by five flat pilasters and bandages adorned with diamond, reflect the architectural influence of the Renaissance, while its lucrative attices and its ancient structure bear witness to the constructive techniques of the time. A hemi-circular moat, extended by a pond, still partially surrounds the bases of two round towers, the last vestiges of the original feudal plan.

The first document mentioning the castle dates from 1275, but the current building was rebuilt by the Briçonnet family at the beginning of the Renaissance, after the acquisition of the estate by Pierre de Fonteuil in 1448. Five generations of Pierre de Briçonnet succeeded each other from 1466 to 1700, transforming the former fortress into an elegant residence. A marriage alliance ties this family to Thomas Boyer, architect of Chenonceau. The Gothic elements, like the nine curved openings from the Hôtel-Dieu d'Orléans, were later integrated, while a terraced building was added at the beginning of the 20th century.

The castle changed hands several times, passing from Barat and Grossetête to Caumont, then to Montaudoin in 1784, before being passed by marriage to Tristan in the 19th century. His history was marked by episodes of resistance, as in 1436, when Pierre Grossetête, in debt, closed his drawbridge against the royal representatives before being forced to yield. The facades, roofs, doves and moat were classified as Historical Monuments in 1971, thus preserving this testimony of the transition architecture between the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

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