The Château de la Bonnetière is a former
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 ...
and now a
château
A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, 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 re ...
situated in the ''
commune'' of
La Chaussée in the
Vienne department of France. Its
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...
dates from the 14th century and could accommodate around 1,300 pigeons.
[Ministry of Culture]
Château de La Bonnetière
History
Its origin goes back to the 13th century. Formerly a fortress, the château formed part of the defence system of the
Sénéchaussée of
Loudunais.
Originally, four towers were equipped with
murder hole
A murder hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, arrows, scalding water, hot sand, quicklime, ...
s and connected by buildings forming a closed interior courtyard. The castle was attacked and partially burned by the English in June 1350 and three of the buildings disappeared.
In the 17th century, the Vaucelles family undertook a restoration. In the 18th century, the Marreau de Boisguérins built the two pavilions attached to the entry towers.
The octagonal dovecote situated in the courtyard dates from the 14th century and is one of the oldest in the Sénéchaussée of Loudunais. It was listed 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, ...
'' on 29 September 1987.
[
The chapel houses an exhibition on the history of the château.
]
See also
*List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Regions of France, region and Departments of France, department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are p ...
References
Castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Châteaux in Vienne (department)
Monuments historiques of Vienne (department)
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