Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Médan has its origins in a 9th century structure, transformed into a hunting lodge at the end of the 15th century for the Perdriel family. In the 16th century, it became a castle in its own right, passing through marriage in the family of Brinon. John II Brinon, patron of Pierre de Ronsard, welcomes the poets of La Pleiade, making the place a major cultural home of the Renaissance. Henri IV regularly stayed there for hunting, and Jean Bourdin, his chamberlain, added a farm around 1635, consolidating his status as an aristocratic residence.

In the 18th century, the Gilbert de Voisins family enlarged the castle with a long wing overlooking the valley, rebuilt in 1873 by the Baron of Dalmas. The French Revolution marked a turning point: the last seigneur was guillotined in 1793, and the estate, sold as a national good. The castle then knew a literary vocation with Maurice Maeterlinck, Nobel Prize winner, who resided there from 1924 and wrote several works, including La Vie des Termites. After a fire in 1956 and a period of abandonment, it was restored by its present owners.

The castle is also linked to art: Paul Cézanne paints three paintings, preserved today at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. Ranked in the additional inventory of historical monuments since 1926, it embodies both architectural, literary and artistic heritage. After sheltering the newspaper Combat in the 1960s, it is now open to visits by appointment, testifying to its turbulent history and resilience.

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