Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Eguilly finds its origins in the 12th century as a defensive stronghold, with two round towers still visible today. Built on the site of an ancient Gallo-Roman wood castle, it was initially surrounded by water ditches and had six towers. The remains of the primitive castral mound, located in the east, remain visible in aerial photos, revealing a fossilized bassyard where the present castle now rises.

In the 15th century, the site was transformed into a seigneurial residence by an archbishop, marking an evolution towards comfort. The chapel Saint-Hubert, the Renaissance well with carved dome, and the 17th century stables testify to these successive developments. Successive marriages moved the property of the families of Eguilly to Choiseul, then Mac Mahon, until the 20th century. The L house, flanked by square and round towers, illustrates this duality between medieval defense and noble habitat.

Ranked a historic monument in 1993, the castle fell into ruins before being saved in 1983 by Roger Aubry, a art merchant, who undertook a 30-year restoration. The partially filled moat, the dormant bridge, and the tower guns recall its military past. The crypt chapel, the pediment windows, and the interior decorations (painted ceilings, stucco fireplaces) reflect the phases of redevelopment, especially in the seventeenth century for the Choiseul.

The architecture combines medieval elements (circular towers, drawbridges with arrows) and Renaissance additions (adorned wells, braced windows). The square towers, less defensive, housed extensions of the house or residential districts. The castle, isolated by the A6 motorway east of the village, also preserves an old classified garden, which is being remodeled by a landscape architect from Versailles.

Today owned by Fabio and Françoise Magnani since 2015, the castle continues its restoration. Its history reflects the evolution of seigneurial residences, moving from the medieval fortress to the aristocratic residence, before becoming a preserved heritage witness.

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