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Origin and history

The castle of Maupas, located in Morogues in the Cher department, came into being in the 15th century, when Jean du Mesnil-Simon, the chamberlain of Louis XI, became its owner by marriage with Phillipine de Rochechouart. The seigneury had previously belonged to the Sully, Mathefelon and Rochechouart families in the 13th century. The central body of the castle, flanked by a round tower and a hexagonal staircase tower, dates from this medieval period.

In 1688 Antoine Agard, from an anobligated family in Bourges, acquired the estate for 36,000 francs gold. His son, Pierre-Antoine Agard, obtained in 1725 the erection of the lands in marquisat by Louis XV. During the Revolution, the castle was confiscated as a national property to a descendant emigrated, then bought in 1802 by Jérôme Agard de Maupas, who had returned from exile thanks to amnesty. The Agard family, faithful to the Bourbons, preserves from the castle, enriched with royal gifts.

In the 19th century, Theophile Agard de Maupas modernized the castle between 1861 and 1866, adding a northern wing and reshaping the whole in a neo-Gothic style under the direction of architect Tarlier. It has an exceptional collection of earthenware plates, hand-decorated and from prestigious manufacturers (Moustiers, Rouen, Delft). This collection, exhibited in the cage of the honorary staircase, as well as the interior decorations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, testify to the aristocratic refinement of the era.

Ranked a historic monument in 1992 for its monumental stone staircase and wooden ramp, the Maupas Castle remains today the property of the Agard de Maupas family. Its history reflects the French political upheavals, from the Ancien Régime to the Restoration, as well as the attachment of a noble lineage to its heritage.

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