The Château de Trécesson is a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
castle in the
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 ...
region of
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 ...
. It is 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
Campénéac near the
Paimpont forest
Paimpont Forest (french: Forêt de Paimpont, br, Koad Pempont), also known as Brocéliande Forest (french: Forêt de Brocéliande), is a temperate forest located around the village of Paimpont in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany, ...
and on the edge of the military camp of
Coëtquidan
Camp Coëtquidan (''Camp de Coëtquidan'') is a French military educational facility located in the Morbihan department of Brittany in France. It forms a part of the commune of Guer and covers an area of approximately 64 km².
It comprises:
...
. It is a private property. It has been listed since 2012 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, ...
.
[ Domaine du Château de Trécesson]
Architecture
The castle's imposing reddish
schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...
walls are reflected in the waters of the lake which surrounds it. The front gate is reached by a bridge which spans the
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
. The entry is guarded by an imposing
gatehouse
A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...
flanked by two narrow towers on
corbelling
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...
, joined together by an old gallery with
machicolation
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...
s. On the right, a long almost windowless frontage, covered with a steep slate roof, ends in a hexagonal corner tower. Around the trapezoidal inner courtyard, to the right is a corps de logis of more recent vintage, undoubtedly 18th-century; and on the left stand the domestic buildings, protected by a watchtower on the exterior facade, and a small 15th-century seigneurial chapel.
History
The origin of Trécesson castle is lost in the mists of time. It was mentioned as the seat of the lords of
Ploërmel
Church Saint-Armel
Ploërmel (; ; Gallo language: ''Pieurmè'') is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Monterrein was merged into Ploërmel.
Character of the town
The to ...
and
Campénéac from the 8th century. The Trécesson family is documented since the 13th century and its first known representative was the knight Jean de Trécesson, whose grandson was
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...
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 ...
in the 14th century. Tradition places the construction of the site at the end of the 14th century, but it is more probable that the castle, in its present position, dates from the 15th century. At that time, around 1440, the last Trécesson heiress married Éon de Carné. He and his son François added the name of Trécesson to their own and undertook the transformation and rebuilding of the château.
The residence remained the property of the Carné-Trécesson family until 1773, when the last of that line, Agathe de Trécesson, married Rene-Joseph Le Preste de Châteaugiron. The château passed in 1793 to Nicolas Bourelle de Sivry, and subsequently to the Perrien, Montesquieu and the Prunelé families. The countess de Prunelé lives in the château today.
In June 1793, during the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...
following 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
Girondist
The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...
deputy Jacques Defermon (known as Defermon des Chapelières), having signed a protest against the exclusion of the Gironde faction, was obliged to flee and took refuge in the château, where he remained hidden for over a year.
Legends
Several legends are attached to the castle. The best known is that of the
Dames Blanches.
See also
*
List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Region and Department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are properly called palaces, mansions or vine ...
References
External links
Legends of the ''Joueurs fantômes'' and the ''Manoir du Pied d’Ânon''
Castles in Brittany
Châteaux in Morbihan
Monuments historiques of Morbihan
Reportedly haunted locations in France
Water castles in France
{{France-castle-stub