The Château de Blain or Château de la Groulais, is a mediaeval

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

constructed in the 13th century and heavily remodelled in the 16th, located in the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Blain in the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of France. It formed part of the frontier defences of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

along with the towns and castles of Vitré,

Fougères Fougères (; br, Felger; Gallo: ''Foujerr'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine department in the region of Brittany in northwestern France. As of 2017, Fougères had 20,418 inhabitants. The Fougères area comprises appr ...

Châteaubriant Châteaubriant (; br, Kastell-Briant; Gallo: ''Châtiaoberiant'') is a town in western France, about southwest of Paris, and one of the three sous-préfectures of the Loire-Atlantique department. Châteaubriant is also situated in the historica ...

Ancenis Ancenis (; ) is a former Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Ancenis-Saint-Géréon. It is a former Subprefectures in France ...

and

Clisson Clisson (; br, Klison), is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is situated at the confluence of the Sèvre Nantaise and the Moine southeast of Nantes. The town and the celebrated ...

Geography

The castle stands on the side of the Nantes-Brest canal. It has 12 towers and covers an area of 4 hectares.

History

The first castle was constructed on the orders of Alan IV,

Duke of Brittany This is a list of rulers of the Duchy of Brittany. In different epochs the sovereigns of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary r ...

, around 1108. The fortress passed by marriage to the

family in 1225. Following Olivier I of Clisson's revolt against the Duke, the castle was razed in 1260. Olivier I's son, Olivier II obtained permission from the Duke to rebuild the castle. The Clissons progressively enlarged the castle during the 14th century. In 1407, the castle became the property of the

House of Rohan The House of Rohan ( br, Roc'han) is a Breton people, Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan (commune), Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët ...

. Louis, Duke of Rohan, is buried here. During the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

, the castle was besieged and set on fire in 1591 during fighting between the

Duke of Mercœur The Seigneurs and Dukes of Mercœur were a line of powerful lords deriving their name from the estate of Mercœur in Auvergne (province), Auvergne, France. The line became extinct in the 14th century, and passed by inheritance to the Dauphin of Auv ...

and Jean de Montauban, the knight De Goust. It was restored by

Catherine de Parthenay Catherine de Parthenay (22 March 1554 – 26 October 1631) was a French noblewoman and mathematician. She studied with mathematician François Viète and was considered one of the most brilliant women of the era. She married Charles de Quel ...

, who installed herself there with her children. In 1628, Henri II, Duke of Rohan, having become the leader of the Protestant princes,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

ordered that the castle be dismantled resulting in the loss of its military role.''Le guide vert bretagne'', Michelin (2000), The castle suffered further serious damage during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. It was pillaged and burnt, along with the Rohan family archives. It served as a barracks and later as a prison. It passed through the hands of several proprietors, including

Marie Bonaparte Princess Marie Bonaparte (2 July 1882 – 21 September 1962), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark upon her marriage, was a French author and psychoanalyst, closely linked with Sigmund Freud. Her wealth contributed to the popularity ...

in 1918. These owners remodelled the north wing (known as the ''Logis du Roy'') and the Mill Tower (''la tour du moulin'').

Architecture

The South West Tower and the

Drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

Tower, along with the buildings on either side, form the entrance to the castle. Along with the Constable's Tower (''tour du Connétable''), the two towers in the south east and the monumental entrance on the south façade of the ''logis du Roi'', they date from before the 17th century. Together with the remains of the towers and the fortifications linking them, they have been classified as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

. The north wing of the ''logis du Roi'' was remodelled in the 19th century.

Today

The castle houses a

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

centre and an ancient printshop. It has been listed since 1977 as a ''

'' by the

Gallery

File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 1).JPG File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 2).JPG File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 3).jpg File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 4).jpg File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 5).JPG File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 6).JPG File:Blain - Château de Blain (gargouille 7).JPG

References and sources

* Information panel at the castle

External links

*
Restoration Association web page of the castle's history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blain, Chateau de Castles in Pays de la Loire Châteaux in Loire-Atlantique Burial sites of the House of Rohan Monuments historiques of Pays de la Loire