The Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer () is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the French seaport of

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

, in the

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

''. It houses the Boulogne museum. The castle was built in the 13th century by

Philippe Hurepel Philip I of Boulogne (Philip Hurepel) (1200–1235) was a French prince, Counts of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis in his own right, and Count of Boulogne, Count of Mortain, Mortain, Count of Aumale, Aumale, and Dammartin-en ...

(1180–1234), count of Boulogne and son of

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

. Following the death of his half-brother, king Louis VIII after a short three-year reign, Hurepel was one of the leaders of a rebellion against the regent, Blanche de Castille, mother of the minor

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis ...

. He constructed castles at

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

and Hardelot and refortified Boulogne. The castle is built in the eastern corner of the medieval walls surrounding the ''Haute Ville'' (literally, ''high town'' - the part of Bologne on the hill). The walls themselves were reconstructed by Hurepel. The eastern part of the castle was built over a corner of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

wall, parts of which are still visible in the basement. Housing together the political, legal and economic powers of the time, it was also a residential and defensive site. Various modifications have taken place. Major alterations were carried out by the

duc de Berry Duke of Berry () or Duchess of Berry () was a title in the Peerage of France. The Duchy of Berry, centred on Bourges, was originally created as an appanage for junior members of the French royal family and was frequently granted to female royal ...

between 1394 and 1416. The horse shoe shape (barracks, arsenal) was completed around 1567. After being adapted because of developments in artillery during the 16th century, it lost some of its medieval character. In 1767, it became a barracks and, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it also housed a prison. In 1974, the town council took over ownership of the castle and decided to install its museum collections. Unlike many other contemporary castles of the early 13th century, the plan of the castle does not include a

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

. The remains of Château de Hardelot in nearby

Condette Condette () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France south of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The river Liane forms the northeast commune border. Population See also *Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department ...

show that Hurepel used this design for at least one other castle. A similar castle was built around the same time at

Fère-en-Tardenois Fère-en-Tardenois (, literally ''Fère in Tardenois'') is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is named for the Tardenois region. Population Personalities It was the birthplace of Camille Claudel ...

by the

Counts of Dreux The Counts of Dreux were a noble family of France, who took their title from the chief stronghold of their domain, the château of Dreux, which lies near the boundary between Normandy and the Île-de-France (region), Île-de-France. They are nota ...

. The Château de Boulogne is listed by the French

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

as a ''

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 collection of buildings, ...

''.

Architectural Description

The Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer is built on a flat terrain and falls under the category of court castles. With its polygonal plan, it is part of the fortified city of

and occupies a part of its rectangular urban enclosure. The castle has its own

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, which was once filled with water, and is therefore isolated from the previously mentioned fortified enclosure of the city. It is accessible from both the outside as well as from the castle courtyard. The large gateway to the city is still used today and is located between two cylindrical towers. On the opposite side, a

postern gate A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often placed in concealed locations, allowing inconspicuous entrance and exit. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a s ...

allowed an exit to the fields back when the castle was built. The castle, while not equipped of a

, reinforces the eastern side of the ramparts. With its nine cylindrical towers joined by curtain walls, its shape resembles an irregular polygon. It is believed that originally, the towers and curtain walls were surmounted by hoardings. The buildings are located against the towers and curtain walls and enclose the central courtyard of the castle. After passing the main entrance, which has lost its original

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 b ...

, the first building on the left is what was the

state room A state room or stateroom in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed for use when entertaining royalty. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly ...

back when the castle was built, then follow the

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, the armoury, the lodgings, and the kitchens. Today, the buildings and the rooms within them have been adapted to host the Château-musée de Boulogne-sur-Mer. In the sixteenth century, on the eastern side of the castle, the walls were embedded in thick stone masonry in order to form a shielding plate, and

faussebraye A faussebraye () is a defensive wall located outside the main walls of a fortification. It is of a lower height than the main walls, and is preceded by a ditch. In Greek and Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Em ...

s were built to encompass five of the nine towers under an almost continuous roof in order to protect the castle from the ever advancing artillery at the time. The first tower on the left is the only one that has kept its original aspect. It is pierced by three levels of

arrowslits An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts. The inter ...

constructed in staggered rows and covered with a

conical roof A conical roof or cone roof is a cone-shaped roof that is circular at its base and terminates in a point. Distribution Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit d ...

(toit en poivrière in French). The following tower, located next to the chapel, contains the treasure chamber. The basements, which go all the way around the fortress, are designed with

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

s. Of all the underground rooms, the room known as the "Barbière" is by far the most remarkable of them all. It was used as a

gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications re ...

and was most likely given its name in honour of

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

, the patron saint of artillerymen.

References

Sources

* POIRET, Françoise Camille: "''Château-musée de Boulogne-sur-Mer : Guide de visite''", 1998 * *

External links

Château-Musée Boulogne-sur-Mer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau De Boulogne-Sur-Mer Boulogne, Chateau de Boulogne-sur-Mer Museums in Pas-de-Calais Art museums and galleries in France Ethnographic museums in France History of the Pas-de-Calais Military history of the Pas-de-Calais Monuments historiques of Pas-de-Calais