Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Haye-Saint-Hilaire, located in Saint-Hilaire-des-Landes in Ille-et-Vilaine, is a monument dating back to the 13th century. It was rebuilt between 1600 and 1620 on the foundations of a medieval castle of the 13th and 14th centuries, of which only a few elements remain like a round tower and a displaced portal. Together, organized around a square courtyard surrounded by moat, includes a main house, a chapel dedicated to the Holy Family, communes and a pavilion. The original, more ambitious project was interrupted by the death of Henry of the Hague Saint-Hilaire in 1622 and the royal ban on further strengthening of the site in 1619.

The castle has remained since the 11th century (with a sonage attested since the 14th century) the property of the family of the Hague Saint-Hilaire, one of the oldest seigneuries in the region of Fougères. The family had fiefs in several nearby parishes and gave five governors to the city of Fougères. The seigneury was erected as a chestnut in 1593 and 1619, with the right of high justice. The present castle thus combines medieval defensive elements (murder, watchtower) and Renaissance additions, such as the chapel built in 1686 by Anne de la Haye and his wife Louise de Canabert.

Ranked a historic monument in 1926 and later in 1995, the castle includes in its protection all buildings (logis, chapel, commons, tower) and moat. The chapel houses a remarkable polychrome statue from Virgin to Child, while the communes and the southwest pavilion bear traces of successive modifications. In 2019, the heirs of Count Lionel of The Hague Saint-Hilaire, who died in 2016, put the estate on sale. The site, although partially unfinished, bears witness to the architectural and social evolution of a Breton seigneury over nearly seven centuries.

The occupation of the site has been attested since the fourteenth century, although hypotheses suggest an older fortified enclosure, perhaps a "Roman camp". The name "The Hague" suggests a hedge-lined property, a primitive defence element. Medieval remains, such as the central tower and moat, recall the initial defensive function, while the 17th and 18th century developments reflect a more comfortable transformation into a seigneurial residence, incorporating elements of resorts (ground windows, stairs).

External links