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Origin and history

The medieval castle of Pouancé, located in the department of Maine-et-Loire at the borders of Anjou and Brittany, is a major fortress of the Marches de Bretagne. Built between the 12th and 15th centuries on a site occupied by the 11th century, it was a strategic issue during the Hundred Years' War and Franco-Breton conflicts. Its military importance is attested by its successive defensive changes, notably in the 15th century with the addition of sparrows, a caponière and a heptagonal tower adapted to artillery.

The first mention of the castle dates back to 1049–60 in the cartular of Carbay, then under the control of the Counts of Anjou. Passed into the hands of the lords of Martigné-Pouancé in the 12th century, it became a political center covering Pouancé, La Guerche and Segré. In the 13th century, Guillaume III built a dam forming the pond of Pouancé, strengthening its natural defences. The castle was besieged several times, notably in 1379 by John IV of Brittany, then in 1432 by John V after the imprisonment of Bishop John of Malestroit.

In the 15th century, Pouancé played a key role in Franco-Breton tensions. Louis XI stayed there in 1472 with 5,000 men, and Louis de La Tremeille gathered 12,000 soldiers there in 1488 before the campaign against Brittany. The fortress, modernized with strongholds and cannon towers, symbolizes this militarization of borders. After the wars of Religion, where it was briefly occupied by the Catholic League, the castle lost its military role in the 17th century.

Gradually abandoned, the castle was partially destroyed by the inhabitants in the 18th century, which dismantled its walls and filled its ditches. Ranked a historic monument in 1926, it has 40 years of excavations and restorations (1981–1996), led by the CHAM association and volunteers. These works reveal balllets, defensive structures and architectural elements such as 15th century quadrlobed openings.

Today, the Pouancé castle is open to the public and managed by the Blue Anjou Tourist Office. Although partially in ruins, it remains one of the last Angevin closed cities with a preserved urban enclosure. In 2010, it was proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Registration in the framework of the Marches de Bretagne, highlighting its historical and architectural importance.

The site, built in shale and granite, includes a high and low courtyard separated by ditches, six cylindrical towers, and defensive developments such as the Grosse Tour (14th century) and the Heptagonale Tower (15th century). Among its features are an underground cooler, a large seigneurial house, and fortified poternes. Despite partial collapses (1915, 1936), it illustrates the evolution of castral techniques from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

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