The Château de Bressuire is a ruined castle in the town of

Bressuire Bressuire (; ; Poitevin: ''Beurseure'') is a commune in the French department of Deux-Sèvres, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The town is situated on an eminence overlooking the Dolo, a tributary of the Argenton. Notable buildings Bressuire ha ...

in the

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

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. The site has been inhabited continuously since the Celtic epoch. The castle was built on the site of an

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

of the

Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...

and was first documented in 1029, in a charter at Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers. It belonged to the Beaumont-Bressuire family until the start of the 16th century.Le château de Bressuire
Histoire et Patrimoine du Bressuirais The castle is a fine example of medieval military architecture. In 1190, the castle consisted of an ''

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...

'' almost 700 metres around, with 38 towers circling the first fortress, itself defended by eight towers. The visible remains date essentially from the end of the 12th and the start of the 13th century. The fortress included three ''

s'', of which the outermost has now disappeared. The castle was broken up during the first half of the 18th century. In 1441, Jacques de Beaumont became Seigneur de Bressuire. He converted the castle into a beautiful residence. From this time date the large building closing off the courtyard, that has

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

windows, splendid granite chimneys in the private rooms and an elegant gallery, all intended to show the refinement of the owner. The castle subsequently belonged to a number of families but its maintenance was ignored. In 1876, the building partly collapsed. The Bernard family bought the castle the same year. In 1880, a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

''château'' was built in the castle court, set back in relation to the former building. The castle was acquired by the '' commune'' in 1975. It has been listed since 1996 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 ...

References

External links

*
Site of the "Histoire et Patrimoine du Bressuirais" association

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bressuire, Chateau de Ruined castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Monuments historiques of Deux-Sèvres

See also

References

External links