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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Pays-de-la-Loire
  4. Vendée
  5. 85570 L'Hermenault

  6. Château de L'Hermenault

 Château de L'Hermenault en Vendée

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine défensif
Demeure seigneuriale
Château
Vendée

Château de L'Hermenault

    36 Rue des Remparts
    85570 L'Hermenault
Château de LHermenault
Château de LHermenault
Château de LHermenault
Crédit photo : Spouik - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1000
1100
…
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
vers 1000
Fortification of the priory
XIVe siècle
Episcopal residence
1523–1528
Construction of Renaissance Castle
1648
Transfer of the episcopal seat
début XVIIe siècle
Creation of the Italian garden
1806
Repurchase by Godard des Breuzes
XVIIIe siècle
Construction of the Women's House
2014
Registration for historical monuments
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

All the buildings of the castle: the park, with its fence walls, including the archaeological plate constituted by the podium of the castle as well as the masonries of hydraulic installations on the course of the Longesves (banks, mill and its bief, carriageway, walls of the basin and masonries of its outlet, including the tunnel under the rue de Chouteau) (cad. AC 230 to 236; B 296 to 306, 311, 313, 320, 322, 323 ; public domain): registration by order of 24 March 2014

Key figures

Geoffroy d’Estissac - Bishop of Maillezais (XVI century) Sponsor of Renaissance Castle.
Rabelais - Secretary of d'Estissac Introduced plane trees to L-Hermenault.
Henri de Béthune - Bishop (17th century) Restore the castle after the wars.
François-Joseph-Emmanuel de Crussol d’Uzès - Bishop of La Rochelle (18th century) Build the house of the ladies.
Daniel Garesché - Shipowner and Mayor of La Rochelle Acquire the castle as a national good.
Pierre Godard des Breuzes - Colonel and Mayor of L-Hermenault Buy the castle in 1806.

Origin and history

The château of L-Hermenault has its origins in a fortified priory around the year 1000, attached to the Abbey of Maillezais. In the 14th century, this priory became the summer residence of the bishops of Maillezais, then of La Rochelle after 1648. Bishop Jacques Raoul of La Guibourgère died there in 1648, marking the transition to his role as Episcopal rochelais. The site, marked by the wars of Religion, was profoundly remodelled in the 16th–15th centuries.

In the 16th century, Bishop Geoffroy d'Estissac erected a Renaissance castle, only the tower of Estissac remains today. His secretary, Rabelais, stayed there and introduced plane trees from Rome. The castle, damaged during the Wars of Religion, was restored in the seventeenth century by Henri de Bethune, who preserved his episcopal character. A century later, François-Joseph-Emmanuel de Crussol d的Uzès added the house of the ladies (rockese style) and built the park.

The Revolution radically transformed the estate: confiscated as a national property, the Renaissance castle was destroyed by the shipowner, Daniel Garesché, then mayor of La Rochelle. In 1806, Colonel Pierre Godard des Breuzes, a former geographer of the king, bought him back and became mayor of L-Hermenault. The site, partially preserved, was listed as a historical monument in 2014 and received the French Heritage Society Award in 2009 for its gardens and remains.

Today, the castle combines elements of the 15th–15th centuries, including hydraulics (moulin, basin, tunnel) and a park with the French. Private property, it bears witness to the architectural and political changes of the Vendée, from the medieval period to the Revolution.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Page Monumentum