Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The feudal motte and dungeon of Doué-la-Fontaine stand on the bases of a Carolingian building built in the 9th century. Around 900, an aula (large room) of 23 × 17 meters, with thick walls of 1.7 to 1.8 meters, is erected on the site of the Chapel, transformed into a tower-dongron after a fire around 930–950. The ground floor, which has become a blind storey, is accessible by a frame porch 5 meters high, making this site one of the first known stone castles, with Langeais.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the lower part of the building was "emmotted" (covered with earth) to strengthen its defence against the saps, while a wooden fortification was built on the motte, surrounded by a deep ditch of 5 meters. The archaeological excavations carried out by Michel de Boüard between 1967 and 1969 revealed religious graffiti (Vierge à l'Enfant, Crucifixion) on the walls of the old kitchen, as well as a pre-existing underground quarry, used to extract Merovingian sarcophagi and then stones for construction.

The site, classified as Historical Monument in 1973, illustrates the evolution of castral techniques, from the Carolingian residence (listed as a villa or palatium in the texts) to the medieval dungeon. The motte, originally truncated (7 metres high, 100 metres in diameter at the base), also housed a well and access to the underground quarry, transformed into an adjacent cellar. Today, only the remains of the Carolingian aula and the first foundations of the rise of the tenth century remain.

Doué-la-Fontaine, with its dungeon considered the oldest in France, bears witness to the transition between Carolingian architecture and medieval castles. Prince Louis, king of Aquitaine, made it one of his favourite residences in the ninth century. The remains, located at the corner of the boulevard of Doctor Lionet and the Motte impasse, remain a key site for the study of medieval archaeology.

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