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Origin and history

The dungeon of Vire is the last vestige of a castle built or rebuilt around 1120 by Henri I Beauclerc, Duke of Normandy and King of England, to protect the south of the principality from invasions from Anjou, Maine and Brittany. Initially entrusted to the Goz family, Viscounts d'Avranches, then to their heirs, the Bricquessart, the castle became a strategic place. In 1150, Ranulphe II of Bricquessart, Viscount of Avranches and Count of Chester, was the governor. Jean sans Terre, who made it a favourite residence, left Vire in 1203 before his occupation by Philippe Auguste, marking the passage under French domination.

In the 14th century, during the Hundred Years' War, the castle was strengthened by the King of France with successive walls and round towers. He passed under English control in 1418 after a siege led by Humphrey de Lancastre, Duke of Gloucester, before being taken over in 1449 by Charles VII's troops. In the 16th century, the castle was the scene of religious conflicts: Gabriel de Montgomery took over in 1562, looted it, and returned it after repeated seats. Henry IV had a second crenellated enclosure erected there before its dismantling ordered by Louis XIII in 1630, leaving only two sections of the dungeon.

The Romanesque dungeon, quadrangular (14 × 13.40 m outside), had three floors on a blind ground floor, with thick walls of 2.10 to 2.30 m. It was crowned with machicolis in the 14th century, replacing the original crenelated parapet. The current remains show chimneys, curved bays and crows on the round road. The site, classified as a historic monument in 1913, also includes traces of a Saint-Blaise chapel, an inexhaustible well and a low enclosure built in 1590 to strengthen defence.

The fortress, located on a granite spur above a Vire meander, was naturally protected by escarpments on three sides. The vulnerable northern flank was defended by two successive enclosures with ditches, towers and fortified doors. The first courtyard housed houses for the garrison, while the second, more interior, contained the governor's house, chapel and well. A creneled wall below, added in 1590, protected a "bottom castle" including the chapel Saint-Maur, built in 1348.

Dismantled from 1630 on the order of Richelieu, the castle was gradually reduced to its present ruins, aggravated by a landslide in 1802. In the 19th century, the esplanade was built in a promenade. The ruins, properties of the commune, today recall the strategic importance of Vire, seat of a ducal vicomte, and its role in the conflicts between Normandy, France and England.

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