Château de Kerjean is a 16th-century fortified
chateau (
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
) located close to the town of
Saint-Vougay, in the
Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. department 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 ...
, France.
It was originally built for members of the Barbier family (later titled as
Marquis
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
de Kerjean) between the 1540s and 1590s.
The chateau was damaged in the 1790s 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 ...
, and fell into further disrepair during the 19th century.
The building was taken into state care in 1911 and restored in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Standing in a 20-hectare park, the house, park and some out-lying structures (including a large
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
) are open to the public.
History
Finistère was a thriving agricultural area in the 16th century, and the Barbier family built a fortified house on their estate lands close to
Saint-Vougay. The building followed contemporary fashions and included elements of
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...
of the house itself, with a slightly less common
bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
ed and
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
d external defensive wall.
The manor house was the hub of an active agricultural estate for several centuries, before becoming somewhat neglected during the 17th century.
Following a marriage between the Barbier and Coatanscour families, the estate and house experienced some growth in the 18th century.
However, 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 ...
, the Marquise de Coatanscour was arrested,
imprisoned and guillotined in
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
*Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
*Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
**Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Brest, ...
, and the estate and chateau forfeited to the republic.
Serving as a military garrison after the Revolution, during which time the building fell into significant disrepair, the house was sold to the Brilhac family in 1802. Several damaged sections of the house were further dismantled in this period – with lead and stone sold as building material – before the Forsanz-Coatgoureden family took control.
In 1911 the French state bought the chateau,
classified the site as a
historic monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
, and from the 1980s to the early 2000s restored the house and surrounds.
Gallery
File:Château de Kerjean 1 vue générale.JPG, Frontage
File:Château de Kerjean 7 Cour intérieure et entrée vus du logis seigneurial.JPG, Courtyard, entrance and chapel
File:Château de Kerjean 5 Cour intérieure façades angle nord-est.JPG, Courtyard looking north-east
File:Château de Kerjean, face nord..JPG, North face
File:Saint-Vougay (29) Château de Kerjean Colombier 02.JPG, Dovecote
File:Ditch and external fortifications.jpg, Ditch and external fortifications
File:Well-preserved corner tower.jpg, Corner tower
File:External gate.jpg, External gate
See also
*
List of castles in Brittany
This list of castles in Brittany is a list of medieval castles or '' château forts'' in the region in western France.
Links in ''italics'' are links to articles in the French Wikipedia.
Côtes-d'Armor
Castles of which little or nothing remain ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau de Kerjean
Houses completed in the 16th century
Kerjean
Renaissance architecture in France
Kerjean