Château de Dourdan
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The Château de Dourdan is a castle in the town of Dourdan in the départment of Essonne, France.
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[edit] History
The châtellenie of Dourdan was part of the french royal domain from the 10th century. The present fortress was built at the request of Philippe Auguste in the 1220s in the place of a wood structure. The castle became the property of Jean de Berry in 1385. There was a siege during the French Wars of Religion. Some famous people have stayed at the Château:
- Jeanne II, Countess of Burgundy, daughter-in-law from Philippe IV of France after the Tour de Nesle affair, before being liberated by her husband Philippe V of France and to become Queen of France in 1316.
- La Hire, friend of Joan of Arc.
The donjon was still a royal prison during 17th century. The monument now houses a museum of local history.
[edit] Description of the Chateau
The fortification is characteristic of the military architecture of this period. It is built on a square pattern, with towers at three of the corners and an isolated donjon at the fourth. The walls are punctuated by towers in the middle of each side, and two, on the east side, flank the gatehouse. A deep stone-lined dry moat follows the outline of the castle. The donjon, the major defensive component of the castle, measures approximately 30 metres in height and 13,6 metres in diameter. It is the typical of the of the donjons being built by Philippe Auguste at this time (e.g. Rouen), and by french nobility through the 13th century.
The conception of the geometric pattern and isolated donjon was similar to that of the castle of the Louvre. A near identical castle is found at Seringes-et-Nesles, Aisne.
[edit] References
- Mesqui, Jean (1997). Chateaux-forts et fortifications en France. Paris: Flammarion, 493 pp. ISBN 2080122711.
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