Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de La Flotte is located on the north coast of the Loir Valley, in Lavanay, near the confluence of the Braye and the Loir. From the Middle Ages, this strategic site hosted the siege of an influential seigneury whose estate extended to Sougé and Couture-sur-Loir. The present building, rebuilt in the Renaissance, still bears the traces of this time with its towers decorated with the arms of the families of the Bellay and Rochebousseau.

The family of the Bellay, owner of the premises from 1400 to 1650, marked the history of the castle. René du Bellay, governor of Le Mans, was the emblematic lord. His granddaughter, Marie de Hautefort, was notable for her role as mistress of Louis XIII and her friendship with the poet Scarron. The castle then changed hands, passing to Le Coigneux, then to Les Fesques by marriage, the latter reshaping it deeply in the 19th century.

In the 19th century, Fernand de Fesques, Marquis de La Rochebousseau and Victurnien Colbert's son-in-law, undertook major renovations. The castle, which had passed through revolutionary upheavals – its owner François Louis Marie de Fesques was guillotined in 1794 – was passed on by inheritance. Today, he belongs to the Countess Antoine Le Bègue de Germiny, perpetuating his status as an aristocratic residence.

External links