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Origin and history

The castle of Pirou, located in the municipality of the same name in Normandy, is a former castle founded at the end of the 12th century. Originally built in wood and then in stone, it adopts a concentric plan typical of shell-keeps, surrounded by an artificial pond and protected by successive moat. Its dungeon, now extinct, dominated a strategic site near the former coast, monitoring the west coast of Cotentin. The castle was profoundly transformed in the 17th century and partially restored between 1968 and 1994 under the direction of Abbé Marcel Lellàvis.

The first lords of Pirou, quoted in 1066, built the fortress on a Viking fence. Pirou's family kept the fief until the 14th century, when he passed by covenant to The Hague, then to the Wood after the Hundred Years' War. Occupied by the Anglo-Navarrais in 1370, the castle remained under English rule for 38 years before being restored in 1450. In the 17th century, the new owners of Vassy undertook major architectural changes, adding classic houses in the courtyard.

The castle became a farm at the Revolution, then acquired in 1966 by Abbé Lelàvis, who restored it and made there the Tapestry of Pirou, an embroidery inspired by that of Bayeux, telling the Norman conquests in Italy. Today, the site houses medieval and classical buildings, including a 17th century chapel, a plaid room, and defensive elements such as mâchicoulis and archères. Ranked a historical monument in 1968, it is open to visit, offering a rare testimony of Norman architectural evolution from the twelfth to the eighteenth century.

A local legend tells that the lord of Pirou and his family, besieged by the Normans, were transformed into geese by an enchanter to escape the siege. Unable to recover human form after the destruction of the grimoire, they would wander since under this appearance, explaining the annual migration of geese into the Cotentin. This legend, one of the oldest in Cotentin, inspired a musical in 2006.

The current remains include a polygonal enclosure flanked by turrets, a drawbridge replaced in the seventeenth century by a stone bridge, and two 17th and 18th century houses. The moat, still in water, and the original five defensive doors (three of which remain) illustrate medieval military ingenuity. The restoration of the 20th century allowed to preserve elements such as the tapestry of Pirou (58 meters), made by Thérèse Ozenne after the sketches of Abbé Lelvisure.

The castle, owned by the Abbey Foundation of La Lucerne since 1994, is visited from April to September. Visitors can discover the medieval bakery, the press, the St. Lawrence Chapel (statues of the 15th to 16th centuries), and the round road offering views of the mâchicoulis and the schist roofs. The permanent exhibition of tapestry and the stories of geese legend enrich the historical experience.

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