Château de Trécesson

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The Château de Trécesson which has preserved its medieval aspect, is one of the most impressive castles of Brittany. It is located in the commune of Campénéac in the Morbihan département of France, near the Paimpont forest and on the edge of the military camp of Coëtquidan. It is a private property.

1 Architecture
2 History
3 Legends
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Architecture

The castle's imposing reddish schist walls are reflected in the waters of the lake which surrounds it. The castle is reached by a bridge which spans the moat. The entry is guarded by an imposing gatehouse flanked by two narrow towers in corbelling, joined together by an old gallery with machicolation. On the right, a long almost windowless frontage, covered with a steep slate roof, ends in a hexagonal corner tower. Around the trapezoidal inner court, to the right is a main building of more recent vintage, undoubtedly 18th century, and on the left the domestic buildings and a small seigneurial chapel.

It has been listed since 1922 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

[edit] History

The origin of the castle of Trécesson goes back in the mists of time. It was mentioned as the seat of the lords of Ploërmel and Campénéac from the 8th century. The Trécesson family is recorded since the 13th century and its first known representative was the knight Jean de Trécesson, whose grandson was constable of Brittany in the 14th century. Tradition places construction at the end of the 14th century but it is more probable that the castle, in its actual position, dates from the 15th century. It is indeed at that time, around 1440, that the last Trécesson heiress married Éon de Carné. The latter, and his son François, added the name of Trécesson to their own and undertook the transformation and rebuilding of the castle.

The residence remained the property of the Carné-Trécesson family until 1773, when the last of the line, Agathe de Trécesson married Rene-Joseph Le Preste de Châteaugiron, who became owner. It passed, in 1793, to Nicolas Bourelle de Sivry, and subsequently to the Perriens, the Montesquieus and the Prunelés. The countess of Prunelé still lives in the castle.

During the French Revolution Reign of Terror, in June 1793, the Girondist deputy Jacques Defermon (known as Defermon des Chapelières), having signed a protest against the exclusion of the Gironde faction, was obliged to flee and came to take refuge in the castle, remaining hidden there for more than one year.

[edit] Legends

Several legends are attached to the castle. The best known is that of the White lady, but there are also those of the Headless curate, the phantom card players and the Manoir du Pied d’Ânon . (See below for an external link to accounts of these legends).