The Château de Vaudémont is a ruined 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 ...

in the '' commune'' of

Vaudémont Vaudémont () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Sights and monuments * Château de Vaudémont - ruined 11th-century castle protected as a ''monument historique'' by the French Ministry of Culture See ...

in the

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

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. At its greatest extent, the castle measures about . __NOTOC__ The castle is one of a group of four castles built around the same time on highland sites along the

Moselle valley The Moselle Valley (, ; , ) is a region in north-eastern France, south-western Germany, and eastern Luxembourg, centred on the river valley formed by the river Moselle. The Moselle runs through, and along the borders of, the three countries, and ...

between Nancy and

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

in northeast France. The other three castles are

Dieulouard Dieulouard (; formerly Dieulwart) is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Dieulouard is located between Pont-à-Mousson and Nancy, on the left bank of the Moselle. It is the location of the Gallo-Roman city o ...

, Mousson and

Prény Prény () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department * Parc naturel régional de Lorraine Lorraine Regional Natural Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régi ...

; of the four, Vaudémont is the largest and best preserved. It was built as a

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

in the 11th century for the Counts of Vaudémont, possibly for Gérard I (1071 – c.1120). The architect is unknown. The remains are part of the curtain wall and the

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

, the so-called ''tour Brunehaut'' (Brunehaut tower) constructed with recycled

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

remains. It was repaired during the 15th century, dismantled in 1639 on the orders of

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

, and restored in 1930. It has been classified since 1840 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 ...

. File:Tour_brunehaut_mur_nord.jpg, "''Tour de Brunehaut''" : north façade File:F 54 Vaudémont Courtine.jpg, Curtain wall and

postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often placed in concealed locations, allowing inconspicuous entrance and exit. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a s ...

File:Vaudémont cadastre.png, Location of ruins on cadastral map

References

;Notes

External links

* * Ruined castles in Grand Est Monuments historiques of Meurthe-et-Moselle Châteaux in Meurthe-et-Moselle {{France-castle-stub fr:Vaudémont#Lieux et monuments

See also

References

Further reading

External links