Château du Plessis-Bourré is a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

in the Loire Valley in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, situated 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 Écuillé in the

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...

department. Built in less than 5 years from 1468 to 1472 by Finance Minister Jean Bourré, the principal advisor to

King Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

. The château has not been modified externally since its construction and still has a fully working drawbridge.Château du Plessis-Bourré: video of working drawbridge
It was 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 ...

in 1931. The château was purchased in 1911 by Henry Vaïsse who, when he died in 1956, bequeathed it to his nephew, François Reille-Soult, Duke of Dalmatie, descendant of the marshals of the French empire

Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Frenc ...

, Reille and Masséna. In 1978, Antoinette de Ferrières de Sauvebœuf, born de Croix, granddaughter of the Duke of Dalmatie, and her spouse Bruno de Ferrières de Sauvebœuf took the responsibility of heading the renovation and maintenance of the château until 2009. They lived there with their three children, Victor (1976)
Matthias
(1978), and Jean-Baptiste (1980), for 31 years, the longest stay of a single family since 1473. Since 2010, it has been inhabited by descendants of François Reille-Soult of Dalmatie and managed by Aymeric d'Anthenaise and Jean-François Reille-Soult de Dalmatie. The Château du Plessis-Bourré has been the location for numerous films, including: * ''

Peau d'Âne ''Donkey Skin'' (french: Peau d'âne; also known in English as ''Once Upon a Time'' and ''The Magic Donkey'') is a 1970 French musical fantasy comedy film directed by Jacques Demy, based on ''Donkeyskin'', a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a k ...

'' (1970) by

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, lyricist, and screenwriter. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrat ...

* ''Louis XI'' by J.C. Lubtchansky * ''Jeanne d'Arc'' (1989 telefilm) by Pierre Badel * '' Le Bossu'' (1997) by

Philippe de Broca Philippe de Broca (; 15 March 1933 – 26 November 2004) was a French movie director. He directed 30 full-length feature films, including the highly successful ''That Man from Rio, That Man from Rio (''L'Homme de Rio'')'', ''Le Magnifique, The M ...

* ''

Fanfan la Tulipe ''Fanfan la Tulipe'' is a 1952 French comedy adventure film directed by Christian-Jaque. It has also been categorized under swashbuckler films. The film starred Gérard Philipe and Gina Lollobrigida. The film was remade in 2003 with Penélope ...

'' (2003) by

Gérard Krawczyk Gérard Krawczyk (17 May 1953, Paris) is a French film director. He is of Polish descent (his grandparents were from Częstochowa). Filmography Director * ''Homicide by Night'' (1984) * ''Je hais les acteurs'' (a.k.a. ''I hate actors'') (1986 ...

* ''La Reine et le Cardinal'' (telefilm) * ''

The Princess of Montpensier ''The Princess of Montpensier'' (french: La Princesse de Montpensier) is a 2010 French period romance film directed by Bertrand Tavernier, inspired by a short story of the same name published anonymously by Madame de La Fayette in 1662. It star ...

'' (2009) by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...

* Louis XI, Le Pouvoir Fracassé (2010) by

Henri Helman Henri Helman (born 1947) is a French director and screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass medi ...

with

Jacques Perrin Jacques Perrin (born Jacques André Simonet; 13 July 1941 – 21 April 2022) was a French actor and film producer. He was occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Early life Jacques André Simonet was born on the Boulevard Port-Royal in P ...

References

External links

Château du Plessis-Bourré
- official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Plessis-Bourré, Chateau De Châteaux in Maine-et-Loire Castles in Pays de la Loire Historic house museums in Pays de la Loire Museums in Maine-et-Loire Monuments historiques of Pays de la Loire