Château de Tancarville is an 11th-century

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 ...

on a cliff overlooking the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

in France. It is located near Tancarville in

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. It has 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, ...

'' since 1862 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 ...

History

Raoul, chamberlain of the Duke of Normandy, first had walls and the old tower built. In the 12th century the square tower with walls 1.65 metres thick was built. In 1316, Jeanne de Tancarville, sole heiress, married Jean II de Melun and their son became the second earl of Tancarville. In 1417, the Countess Marguerite married Jacques d'Harcourt . In 1418 at the time of the conquest of Normandy by Henry V of England, the title of Count of Tancarville was given to John Grey, while in the kingdom of France it was used by the House of Harcourt who recovered the castle after the departure of the English. In 1709, a wing in classical style was added to the medieval parts of the building by the Count of Evreux. On , financier John Law acquired it from Evreux, but does not appear to have ever resided there. After the French Revolution in 1789, the castle was looted and partly burned down. For 29 years, from 1910 to 1939, the castle was rented by Mr. Fernand Prat and his wife born Jehanne Leblanc (sister of Maurice Leblanc) who received many personalities of the arts and letters such as

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...

and his companion Georgette Leblanc,

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

, Margaret Caroline Anderson,

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

, Bertrand de Jouvenel, Pierre Lecomte Nouy and Louis Fabulet. In the 1960s, the castle served as a summer camp for children in the area. The title of Earl of Tankerville is still extant in the Peerage of Great Britain. The castle now belongs to Saqqara, a real estate company in Figeac (Lot), which has been offering luxury apartments since 2001. While waiting to be renovated, it remains closed to the public.

Notes

External links

*
History of the chateau with images and updates on current restoration
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tancarville, Chateau De Castles in Seine-Maritime 11th-century establishments in France Ruined castles in Normandy Monuments historiques of Orne

History

See also

Notes

External links