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

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 ...

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

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

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 ...

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

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

along with the towns and castles of Vitré,

Fougères Fougères (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Foujerr'') is a Communes of France, commune and a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine Departments of France, department, located in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, no ...

Châteaubriant Châteaubriant (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Châtiaoberiant'') is a town in western France, about southwest of Paris, and one of the three Subprefectures in France, sous-préfectures of the Loire-Atlantique departments of France, department. C ...

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 ''For other uses, see Clisson (disambiguation)'' Clisson (; Gallo: ''Cliczon'', ), is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, in the region of Pays de la Loire, western France. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Sèvre Nan ...

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 Brittany. In different epochs the rulers of Brittany were kings, princes, and dukes. The Breton ruler was sometimes elected, sometimes attained the position by conquest or intrigue, or by hereditary right. Hereditary ...

, 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 () is a Bretons, Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan, Morbihan, Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to tr ...

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

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

, 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, 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, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

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. 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 b ...

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 () 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, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

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

Today

The castle houses a

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

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 Loire-Atlantique