Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Vaujours Castle, also known as Vaujoyeux or Val-Joyeux, is an angeline fortress built between the 12th and 15th centuries. Located 3 km south of Château-la-Vallière (Indre-et-Loire), it belonged to the seigneury of Chasteaux, the future Château-la-Vallière, and marked the eastern limit of Haut-Anjou, in Touraine angevine. Its typical military architecture includes a dungeon, a double enclosure with drawbridge, cylindrical towers, and moat fed by a pond, now dried up. The site, a private property, is partially visited and preserves unobstructed ruins, including a 15th century chapel and remains of houses.

The construction is attributed to Hugues VI d The fief, dependent on Baugé's seine-floor, passed into the hands of the families of Alluye, Rotrou de Montfort, and then of the Parthenay-L Jean V de Bueil (1405–1478), admiral of France and Count of Sancerre, strengthened the defences in the 15th century, making the fortress reputedly impregnable. The castle resists the English during the Hundred Years War and welcomes Louis XI in 1469, 1470 and 1471, during his stay in Anjou.

In 1667 Louis XIV offered the estate to his favourite Louise de La Vallière, who became duchess. The site, transformed into a Duchy-Payrie, then passed to his daughter Marie-Anne de Bourbon, then to the family La Baume Le Blanc. It was abandoned in the 18th century and sold in 1815 to Thomas Stanhope-Holland, who used it as a stone quarry. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1989 (after first protection in 1944), the castle was restored by medieval construction sites in 1986. Its ruins, surrounded by lawns, still bear witness to its strategic past between Anjou and Touraine.

The history of the castle is marked by figures such as Hugues VI d The Bueil, Counts of Sancerre, receive the court of France, while the moat and defensive system illustrate the adaptation to medieval conflicts. Today, the site combines architectural heritage and memory of feudal struggles, between anangevin heritage and tourangelle influence.

Architecturally, Vaujours combines two fortresses: a bay to the west and the castle itself to the east, connected by defensive structures. The cylindrical dungeon, the bossy towers, and the remains of the 15th century chapel highlight its evolution between the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The moat, although filled, recalls its role as Wasserburg (castle on pond), while the painted and cracked coatings, mentioned by Nicolas Mengus, evoke a decoration that is now gone. The estate, always private, perpetuates this legacy through guided tours.

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