The Château de Farcheville is a 14th-century castle in the commune of Bouville near Paris in the département of Essonne.
The castle was built between 1290 and 1304, by Hughes II de Bouville and Hugues III, Lords of Farcheville and Bouville. The Château de Farcheville is a rare example of rural, open–filled castle of the medieval period. The great hall was built in 1291 and the castle chapel was consecrated in 1304. Both father and son were chamberlain to Philip IV of France. The structure possesses a rare northern French example of arched machicolations on buttresses, more characteristic of military architecture in the Languedoc. The castle passed to the family of Châtillon in the fifteenth century.
In 1990 film producer Jean Chalopin, owner of the property from 1989 to 2006, began a project to restore the Château.
The castle was once owned by Yellowstone Club founders Edra and Tim Blixseth. Following the Blixseth's 2009 divorce and bankruptcy, the castle was put up for sale by creditors for $57 million U.S. dollars. In 2010 the castle was bought by the current owner, a French holding company. The castle has its own moat, hunting grounds, 25 bedrooms, theatre, spa with 25 m heated indoor pool, garden, parc 1,000 acres (4.0 km2), and a helipad. Today the structure is available to rent for private events.

Château de Farcheville

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FROM THE 12TH TO THE 14TH CENTURY
THE EARLIEST KNOWN CONSTRUCTION ON THIS SITE IS A ROMAN VILLA OR HAMLET, WHICH GAVE ITS NAME (VILLARE IN LOW LATIN MEANS “FROM/NEAR THE HAMLET”) TO VILLIERS.
THE CASTLE STAYED IN THE CHAMPAGNE FAMILY UNTIL 13 NOVEMBER 1160, WHEN KING LOUIS VII MARRIED ALIX DE CHAMPAGNE AND THE PROPERTY PASSED INTO THE ROYAL DOMAIN.
ALIX DE CHAMPAGNE WAS KING LOUIS VII’S THIRD WIFE AND THE MOTHER OF KING PHILIPPE AUGUST, WHO BUILT THE FIRST LOUVRE IN PARIS.
IN 1220, WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF SENS, AMICIE DE BRETEUIL, THE WIDOW OF JEAN BRIARD LORD OF BRETEUIL, FOUNDED AN ABBEY ON A PARCEL OF VILLIERS PREVIOUSLY GRANTED BY THE KING.
THE CHÂTEAU OF VILLIERS AT THAT TIME WAS A MEDIEVAL CASTLE SURROUNDED BY A DRY MOAT WITH A DRAW-BRIDGE ACROSS IT, THE REMNANTS OF WHICH ONE CAN STILL SPOT.
OTHER REMAINS CAN STILL BE SEEN:
AN ANCIENT GUARD ROOM AND A CHAPEL
BUTTRESSES
DEFENCE TOWERS BASEMENTS
UNDERGROUND ROOMS
DURING ITS HISTORY THE CASTLE HAS BEEN EQUIPPED WITH A NUMBER OF UNDERGROUND PASSAGES LEADING TO THE CHURCH OF LA FERTÉ-ALAIS, VILLIERS ABBEY (DECONSECRATED IN 1793), MONTMIRAULT CASTLE. TRACES OF THESE STRUCTURES CAN STILL BE FOUND NOWADAYS.
WE HAVE EVIDENCE OF A STAY OF ISABEAU DE BAVIÈRE IN THE CHÂTEAU FROM 28 OCTOBER TO 1 NOVEMBER 1390. WHO OWNED THE CASTLE THEN ? WE ONLY KNOW THAT SHE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THIS VISIT TO OFFER THE NEARBY ABBEY A “RACAMAS” CLOTH OF GOLD.
FROM THE 15TH TO THE 20TH CENTURY
VILLIERS IS MENTIONED AGAIN IN 1450. AT THAT TIME KING LOUIS XI GRANTED IT TO BE HELD IN FEE BY OLIVIER LE DAIM, HIS CONFIDENT AND HENCHMAN IN CHARGE OF DOING THE DIRTY WORK.
NOT ONLY WAS HE KING LOUIS XI’S MOST FAITHFUL SERVANT, BUT ALSO HIS ACCOMPLICE. HIS REAL NAME WAS OLIVIER NECKER. LE DAIM WAS A NICKNAME DUE TO THE FACT THAT HE USUALLY WORE A BUCKSKIN JERKIN. OFFICIALLY HE WAS THE KING’S BARBER, BUT ON OCCASIONS HE COULD ALSO BE HIS HATCHET MAN AND EXECUTIONER: AND WITHOUT ANY SCRUPLES HE FULFILLED THE VARIOUS MISSIONS HIS MASTER WOULD ENTRUST HIM WITH. ON THE VERGE OF DEATH LOUIS XI COMMENDED HIM TO HIS SON THE FUTURE KING. BUT CHARLES VII HAD HIM ARRESTED AND EXECUTED, AS HE CONSIDERED HIM TO BE HIS FATHER’S DAMNED SOUL.
HIS CASTLE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY DISMANTLED, ESPECIALLY THE DUNGEON AS A SYMBOL OF ITS MASTER’S POWER. LEGEND HAS IT THAT OLIVIER LE DAIM, FORESEEING HIS COMING DISGRACE, BURIED A FABULOUS TREASURE SOMEWHERE ON THE LAND OF VILLIERS.
AFTER HIS DEATH, THE LORDSHIPS OF VILLIERS LE CHÂTEL AS WELL AS THOSE OF HUISON WERE ALLOWED TO BE HELD IN FEE BY LORD JEAN DE FOIX, VISCOUNT OF NARBONNE AND COUNT OF ETAMPES, THEN CAME BACK TO THE CROWN. DURING THE RENAISSANCE KING FRANCIS 1 OFFERED THE CASTLE TO THE HOUSE OF SELVE IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SERVICES RENDERED TO THE CROWN.
THE DE SELVE FAMILY OWNED THE CASTLE FOR MORE THAN 400 YEARS. THEIR COAT OF ARMS IS BLAZONED “AZURE CHARGED WITH TWO BARS WAVY ARGENT”: IT CAN STILL BE SEEN ON THE CASTLE.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY AS MANY AS 20 PEOPLE WERE STILL EMPLOYED BY THE CHÂTEAU AT THE PEAK OF THE SEASON, INCLUDING 7 GARDENERS.
ON AUGUST 22, 1944, THE CASTLE NEARLY WITNESSED A TRAGEDY: THE EXECUTION OF 197 HOSTAGES BY THE PANZERTRUPPEN. THEY WERE SAVED AT THE LAST MOMENT, THANKS TO THE ALERTNESS OF A POSTWOMAN IN LA FERTÉ-ALAIS WHO SENT A WARNING TO THE NEARBY AMERICAN TROOPS. THE GERMANS HAD MEANT TO GATHER 200 PEOPLE FOR ELIMINATION, BUT 3 KEPT MISSING, THUS PREVENTING THE OPERATION FROM STARTING. A NUMBER OF GRAVES HAD ALREADY BEEN DUG IN THE PARK BY THE HOSTAGES. THE HOLES ARE STILL THERE TO BE SEEN.
IN 1958 THE CASTLE WAS BOUGHT BY PHILIPPE CLAY, A SINGER AND FILM ACTOR. IT THEN BECAME A PLACE OF CELEBRATION.
https://www.chateau-de-villiers.fr

Château de Villiers

The château de Mesnil-Voisin is a French château, located at the heart of the hamlet of "Mesnil-Voisin" in the commune of Bouray-sur-Juine in the department of Essonne.
Le château was built by Michel Villedo, one of the famous "Maçons de la Creuse". It has an orangery, kitchens, coachhouses and workshops. At the centre of its communal courtyard a huge dovecote with 3000 niches and a wood-framed roof, and topped by a conical turret - it is rare in having its internal moveable staircase still intact.
The course of a canal bordering the rear of the château were entirely removed between 1999 and 2001. It has thus returned to its original course, leaving the Juine a short distance upstream of the château and rejoining it some distance downstream, just before the pont de Cochet.

Château de Mesnil-Voisin

The château de Chamarande is a 17th-century French château in Chamarande, in the department of Essonne.
History
The first "castle" of this name was established at Bonnes around 811 by Arteld, missus dominicus and brother of Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer. However, excavations on the site have shown that the place was not fortified.
A fortified château was built in the 16th century, probably for François Hurault (prévôt des marchands de Paris and personal friend of king Henry IV), who in 1563 acquired the two seigneuries which make up the present estate and took up residence here. This castle corresponds to the present buildings of the commanderie. After the death of François Hurault in 1613, the château passed to his son Jean, who expanded the estate.
However, the château suffered in the Fronde and was in a poor state by the time it was sold in 1654 to Pierre Mérault, the former fermier des gabelles who had been promoted to a noble by buying a écuyership, who was also secretary to king Louis XIV. It was Mérault who built the present castle. Its design was formerly attributed to François Mansart without corroborating documentary evidence, but is now attributed to Nicolas de l'Espine. A rectangular building surrounded by a moat forms the living quarters, flanked on either side by the service wings The entrance to the main courtyard is flanked by two pavilions, with the left one containing the chapel. The estate was at the same time "ornamented with canals, lakes and fountains". André Le Nôtre helped design the park, though the dating and nature of his help are not known for certain.
In debt, Pierre Mérault sold the estate in 1684 to Clair Gilbert d'Ornaison known as Chamarande, top "valet de chambre" to Louis XIV. The year after the sale, Louis promoted Bonnes into the "county of Charamande" by letters patent. At d'Ornaison's death in 1737, the château passed to his first cousin and heir, Louis de Talaru, marquis de Chalmazel, maître d'hôtel of queen Marie Leszczyńska. The architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry worked on the château for de Talaru, building new service quarters beyond the secondary route near the village, and to the estate added an orangery, a belvédère, an oval bosquet for "Jeu de l'oie" with a temple of love at its centre and a cascatelle. He demolished the wall of the courtyard along the moat and put an ironwork gate with two lampholders in front of the bridge. He also modernised the interior decor, creating a little salon gros near the vestibule and the grand salon d'angle.
In the 1780s, a water feature was added, with an island bordered by bald cypresses from Louisiana at its centre - it is traditionally attributed to the painter and garden designer Hubert Robert. After the French Revolution, Louis-Justin, marquis de Talaru, bought the estate under the Consulate and carried out repairs, redesigning the park 'à l'anglaise'. Mayor of Chamarande, he lived at the Château until his death in 1850.
In 1852, the estate was sold to Pierre and René Robineau, and in 1857 it became the property of Victor Fialin, comte then duc de Persigny, interior minister to Napoléon III and French ambassador to the United Kingdom. He created a luxuriously-furnished gallery on the château's ground floor, built a fortified wall round the estate, completed the transformation of the park into the "à l'anglaise" style and planted exotic trees. New service buildings were added : a farm, stables, a bergerie, a birdhouse, a kennel, a new icehouse and a winter garden. Near the new gate was placed an obelisk inspired by the Songe de Poliphile, which probably referred to the love-affairs of Henry II with Diane de Poitiers. In 1862 (ten years before his death), Persigny held a fête at Chamarande for the birthday of empress Eugénie.
In 1876, the château was acquired by Aristide Boucicaut, founder of Bon Marché, who added a Renaissance-style dining room but died only a year after purchasing the château. His widow took it with her when she remarried in 1881, to the doctor Marie-Joseph-Laurent Amodru, mayor of Chamarande until 1922 and député for Seine-et-Oise. After 1913, the waterfall had copies of the river statues from the parc de Versailles added. From 1923 to 1951, the château was central to the creation of Scouting in France (the foundation of the regional heads of the Scouts et Guides de France is always called the Cham in reference to Chamarande). In 1950, the first À cœur joie festival took place at Chamarande, before becoming the Festival des Choralies at Vaison-la-Romaine.
In 1957, the last private owner was Auguste Mione, president of "La Construction moderne française", before the estate was bought in 1978, by the General Council of the Essonne.
The estate today
The parc de Chamarande covers 98 hectares.
The commanderie (i.e. les communs) has since 1999 been the main store for the Essonne department's archives. An eight-floor underground silo below the château's courtyard allows up to 32 km of shelving, of which 11 km are presently in use.
In 2001, a contemporary art centre was set up at Chamarande at the instigation of Dominique Marchès, founder of the Vassivière art centre. He was its first director, followed by Judith Quentel (2005 to present). It has a permanent collection (entitled L'esprit des lieux), bought with a fund of the Essonne department and including works by Lilian Bourgeat, Erik Samakh ("flûtes solaires", in the park), Miguel Egana (Feuilles scies, 2001, in the park), Bert Theis (giant white crosses, in the park) and Philippe Ramette. The permanent sculpture park in the estate, plays off the existing features - the icehouse houses a sound installation by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, and the orangery presents monograph exhibitions dedicated to young artists :
2007 :
Sammy Engramer
David Évrard
2008 :
Sylvain Rousseau
In season, from May to October, the centre hosts story-telling, music, dance and film festivals as well as gardening and heritage events in the park. The park (now one of the "Jardins remarquables") also hosts an important garden show in Île-de-France, as do the châteaux at Courson and Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard.

Château de Chamarande

The Château de Courances at Courances (Essonne) is a French château built in approximately 1630. The house and gardens are open to the public.
House
In 1552, Côme Clausse, a notary and royal secretary to the King, acquired from the Lapite family the former seigneurial dwelling at Courances, at the western edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau. His heir conveyed it in 1622 to Claude Gallard, another royal secretary, who is doubtless the builder of the present château, of an H-plan laid out on a rectangular platform that is surrounded by moat.
The original château is known from the engravings of Israël Henriet and Israël Silvestre, about 1650. The evaluation of the property drawn up in 1638 mentions, apart from the manor house, four barns, a press-house, two wheat mills, and two mills "straddling the river". "Above and beyond this is a mill called the fulling mill, with the forecourt of said chateau on one side, and the stream of the pond on the other", it says.
In the 18th century the house was modernized by Anne-Catherine Gallard, widow of Nicolas Potier de Novion, who opened up a proper cour d'honneur by demolishing the wall and entryway that had enclosed the courtyard. Later her granddaughter Léontine-Philippine de Novion and her husband Aymar de Nicolay further modernized the château (1775–1777) by opening new bays and applying a large pedimented center to each façade.
In 1830, the Nicolay heirs (see Nicolay (family))conveyed away the château, which was bought in 1872 by Baron Samuel de Haber. For him the architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur restored the château in a Louis XIII style, in a campaign that lasted from 1873 to 1884. Destailleur retrieved the brickwork from beneath a layer of stucco, raised the rooflines of the pavilions and supplied zinc ornaments for the roofs. The grand internal staircase was demolished and monumental ramps of Fontainebleau inspiration were applied to the façades. A new wing with broken roofline was erected over the former kitchens to shelter the master suites, and was linked to the old wing by a gallery.
New outbuildings constructed at the same time were destroyed by fire in 1976. In the First World War, Courrances served as a hospital. In the Second World War, it was first occupied by the Germans, then by Field Marshal Montgomery, serving as Chairman of the Western Union Commanders-in-Chief Committee, from 1947 to 1954.
Park
Courances has been acclaimed as "the epitome of the French formal garden style in which château and environment form a whole". The garden's traditional attribution to André Le Nôtre is undocumented and dubious. Actually, natural expanses of water at Courances stand in sharp contrast to the fountain machinery employed by Le Nôtre at Versailles and elsewhere. This was noted approvingly by Jacques Dulaure in the 18th century: "Nature has created this effect of ever-flowing water, an effect far superior to those pompous cascades which by mighty effort live for a moment and then die down, as if a painting were to vanish all at once from its frame".
In 1870, Destailleur transformed the park to a landscape park à l'anglaise. Of the seventeenth-century garden, some bones survived when Achille Duchêne began to remake it for the marquise de Ganay, granddaughter of baron de Haber; the grounds retained an entrance avenue of plane trees, the central allée d'honneur between flanking canals and the grand axial perspective centered on the château, with its basins and a grand canal. The marquise de Novion's eighteenth-century reflecting tank also remained.
Duchêne re-established the French garden by recreating it in novel ways, setting long straight canals in curbs of stone on either side of the central stretch of lawn, and inventing Baroque scrolling designs in clipped box set in panels of gravel. The vista leading south from the house is made to narrow in the distance, giving it an illusion that makes it appear much longer than it actually is. His also is the fountain of Aréthuse, formerly surmounted by a marble nymph that had been sculpted in 1711 by Claude Poirier for Marly. (The statue was acquired in 2005 by the Musée du Louvre).
In 1930, surprisingly, Duchêne and Mme de Ganay also created a Japanese hill-and-pond stroll garden. The park has undergone further restoration since 1948.

Château de Courances

The Château de Fleury-en-Bière is an area that is located in the town of Fleury-en-Bière and in the department of Seine-et-Marne.
Structure of Château de Fleury-en-Bière
The Château de Fleury-en-Bière was built from brick and stone rubble and brick which are reserved for common and the wall of the forecourt. It is characterized by a main building doubled, raised an attic and flanked by a new round tower at the south-west corner. Clad in brick, the facade is embellished with stones bands of sandstone, which emphasize the rhythm of the bays. The north wing dates from 1553 and was raised by the son of the architect, Simon Guillain and Jean Saulvaige. It houses two superimposed galleries joining an old square corner tower. His front yard was invented from the courtyard of the Château de Fontainebleau. The building has also been expanded with a new main building. The facade on the courtyard was awarded a staircase-shaped horseshoe leaving among others a free surface in the Castle. From the front door of the Castle, the sumptuous architectures differ from the court that close on the side of the street by a monumental wall. At the bottom and to the right stands the magnificent Romanesque chapel became a parish church. The chapel houses paintings by Nicolo dell'Abate who worked at Fontainebleau.
History of the Château de Fleury-en-Bière
The Château de Fleury-en-Bière was built in the sixteenth century. In 1552, Chancellor Henry II, Cosme Clausse already owned the Château de Fleury Beer and takes possession Courances. He later left a legacy to his younger son who left his debt on the existing fleet. Cosme opt immediately for the reconstruction of the old castle and put the work into the hands of master mason Gilles Le Breton. The goal was to build two buildings shaped bracket. The first house is characterized three-fifths of the present castle. In 1770 Jérôme Argouges which became the new owner of the domain decides to redevelop and modernize. Then between 1910 and 1914, the Countess of Béhague asked the architect Rahir rehabilitate the Castle. The Château de Fleury-en-Bière Date 1620s. The notary and secretary to the king, Claude I Gallard, a very wealthy man decided to destroy completely the old Castle and built a new castle reflecting architectures Louis XIII style. He also ensured that it amply demonstrates his wealth. The castle contains the fingerprints of two women in her family especially the park, "the ladies Courances." Then the area was handed over to the hands of the family of Nicolay. Thereafter, the castle was bought by Samuel Haber in 1872. He then appealed to the architect Destaileurs to rebuild the area. The park meanwhile was restored by Jean Baptiste Chaussards to year 1769. During World War II, the castle has been converted into a military hospital.
Key Events Castle Fleury-en-Bière
The Château de Fleury-en-Bière been a classification as historical monuments since December 17, 1947 for its fleet, its roof and common. Facades and roofs were a common rank order of October 5, 1951. This chateau has received illustrious figures such as Henry IV, Sully, La Grande Mademoiselle and the Duchess of Berry.
Visit Château de Fleury-en-Bière
The Château de Fleury-en-Bière is open to the public for visits only during Heritage Days. Visiting the park lets you enjoy a nice large space. This is complemented by a channel 800 meters long and several lanes ideal for walking field trips between families.
http://www.shuttle-paris-airports.com/news/view/id/13777.html

Château de Fleury-en-Bière

The Château de Courson was built in 1676 in Courson-Monteloup (the postal code is 91680; INSEE code 91186), on the south-west outskirts of Paris, France. It is in the Essonne département of the Île-de-France région.
Originally the home of the Lamoignon family, the château has been in the same family since the 18th century. Its historic park was laid out in formal style by a pupil of André Le Nôtre in the 18th century. During the 19th century the gardens were twice remodelled, first around 1820 for the Duc de Padoue by the landscaper Berthault, then again around 1860 by the Bülhers, who laid out many French parks and gardens, including those of Rennes, Lyon and Bordeaux.
In 1985, the movie "Bring on the Night" was filmed at the château.
It is now most famous as the venue for the Journées des Plantes de Courson. These extremely popular plant fairs have been held in mid-October since 1983. Since 1987 a spring plant fair has been held in mid-May.
The castle and park are open for tours.

Château de Courson

The Château d'Augerville is a historic château, situated in the commune of Augerville-la-Rivière, Loiret, France. It is a monument historique, a national heritage site of France.
History
Early
The site is first mentioned during the twelfth century as Augerville, then a hamlet, in a charter from 1119. From 1207 onwards, Augerville was a stronghold for Philip Augerville and his son Louis. There they built a château fort flanked by a pigeonnier. Louis Augerville died in 1248 without an heir, so the estate went to brothers Pierre and Dreux de Beaumont.
During the Hundred Years War, the son of Pierre de Beaumont, Jean de Beaumont, sided with the English. He was sentenced to death by the provost of Paris and was executed on September 6, 1367. His property was confiscated, but later returned to his widow, Jeanne de Courtenay. She died without any children, so a nearby branch of the family took Augerville in 1403, in the person of another Jean de Beaumont. At his death, his brother Pierre de Beaumont inherited the castle, but had to flee an English occupation. His lands were redistributed by the occupying English to French supporters of Henry VI of England.
The château fort was a ruin by the time it was purchased by Jacques Cœur, a merchant and major financier of King Charles VII, in 1452. Cœur had little time to enjoy the property, as he was put on trial for royal embezzlement and sentenced to exile, where he died in 1456. All of his property was confiscated by the crown.
Catherine de' Medici and her son, King Charles IX, stayed at the château in September 1562. An asset inventory of the fiefdom of Augerville-la-Rivière, dated June 30, 1582, noted that the château fort was surrounded by walls and a moat, fed by the Essonne River. It had a garden, a courtyard, a barn, a theatre, and a pigeonnier.
After another period of abandonment, the château was sold for taxes on October 22, 1637. It went through another owner, who began to restore it as a country house in 1644, but found it to be too large a task. It was bought in 1644 by Jean Perrault-de-Montevrault, who had the facades of the château and apartments restored and added two detached wings, a new pigeonnier, a new barn, and created a forecourt surrounded by estate buildings.
Later
The château was auctioned off in 1825. At that time it was described as being having forty-six rooms on three floors, with the south facade overlooking the park and including thirty-four windows and three doors. The northern facade at the time was noted to have thirty windows overlooking the main courtyard. The estate was purchased by Antoine Pierre Berryer, advocate and counselor to the French parliament. He spent much of his time restoring and expanding the property. His notable guests at the estate included François-René de Chateaubriand, Alexandre Dumas, fils, Franz Liszt, Gioachino Rossini, Alfred de Musset, and Eugène Delacroix. Following the death of Berryer in 1868, the estate went to his sister. She continued to make improvements. With her death, the property again passed to an absentee owner and was largely neglected. It was bought by Count Pange in 1912. He restored facades, the gardens, and lands before reselling to industrialist Felix Mouton in 1919.
In the summer of 1926 the estate was purchased by American socialite Alva Belmont, formerly Mrs. William Kissam Vanderbilt, who restored it as her primary residence. It had been one of several inspirations for her châteauesque-style Petit Château in Manhattan. Her daughter, Consuelo Vanderbilt, wrote that she thought that Jacques Cœur's reported ownership had partially inspired her mother to buy the estate. Belmont did much restoration and renovation during her ownership. She had the river flowing through the estate widened because she said, as Consuelo later wrote, "This river is not wide enough." She brought in paving stones from Versailles to cover the previously sand-paved great forecourt between the house and the village. She had a massive neo-Gothic portal gate erected on the northern entrance road, separating the château and village from the surrounding farmland. Changes inside the château included replacement of the wrought iron staircases and moving the kitchens to the basement. She also added a bowling alley in one of the buildings on the estate, one of the first in France. After her death in 1933, the chateau was left to Consuelo, who sold it to a Swiss company in the winter of 1937.
From 1986 to 1989, the château and 272-acre (110 ha) estate were resold twice. It is now a luxury hotel, complete with a golf course. The course, established in 1995, has 18 holes and was designed by Olivier Dongradi.

Château d'Augerville

The Château de Dourdan is a castle in the town of Dourdan in the Essonne department of France.
Construction
The fortification is characteristic of the military architecture of this period. It is built on a square pattern, with towers at three of the corners and an isolated donjon at the fourth. The walls are punctuated by towers in the middle of each side, and two, on the east side, flank the gatehouse. A deep stone-lined dry moat follows the outline of the castle.
The donjon, the major defensive component of the castle, measures approximately 30 metres in height and 13.6 metres in diameter. It is the typical of the donjons being built by King Philip II Augustus of France at this time, like at Rouen and other French nobility throughout the 13th century.
The conception of the geometric pattern and isolated donjon was similar to that of the castle of the Louvre. A near identical castle is found at Seringes-et-Nesles, department of Aisne in northern France.
The principle of the isolated keep was also employed at Flint Castle in Wales, a fortification begun by a Gascon master mason in the late 13th Century.
History
The châtellenie of Dourdan was part of the Crown lands of France (Domaine royal) from the 10th century. The present fortress was built at the request of Philip Augustus in the 1220s in the place of a wood structure.
The castle became the property of Jean de Berry in 1385. It was besieged during the French Wars of Religion. Among some of the notable personages who resided in the castle were Philip IV of France's daughter-in-law, Joan II, Countess of Burgundy, detained there from 1314 to 1315 in relation to the Tour de Nesle affair, and La Hire, one of Joan of Arc's comrades-in-arms.
At the end of the 17th century, the Château de Dourdan was given to the Duke of Orléans who turned it into prison. The donjon was used as a prison until 1852. It now houses a museum of local history.