The Château de la Motte-Glain is a 15th-century castle in the commune of La Chapelle-Glain in the Loire-Atlantique département of France. It was modified by Pierre de Rohan-Gié in the 17th century.
History
The castle was built by Pierre de Rohan-Gié in 1495 on the site of an older fortress belonging to the lords of Rougé.
Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII stayed there in 1497 and Charles IX and Catherine de' Medici in 1565. It was bought in 1635 by Michel Le Loup, counsellor to the Parlement of Brittany
Architecture
The castle includes a gatehouse composed of a central pavilion flanked by two round towers, some ruined buildings (including a storeroom and a press), a residence decorated with Renaissance windows from the 15th century.
The chapel contains a fresco from the 16th century.
The castle is privately owned. Parts of it (gatehouse, storeroom, press, chapel, residence, bay, roof, wall) have been listed since 1926 and protected since 1929 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. It is open to the public in the summer months.

Château de la Motte-Glain

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The Château de Bourmont is a converted castle in the commune of Freigné in the Lot département of France.
History
The family of La Tour-Landry and, later, the Maillé de La Tour-Landry, held the lands of Bourmont from the 14th century. Through an alliance in 1691 between Marie-Hélène de Maillé de La Tour-Landry (1670-1752) and Marie-Henry, Count of Ghaisne (1662-1710), it passed to the family of Ghaisne de Bourmont, who still own it.
In 1771, the Château de Bourmont was the birthplace of Louis-Auguste-Victor, Count de Ghaisnes de Bourmont, architect of the French conquest of Algeria in 1830. The conquest led to him being appointed Maréchal de France (Marshal of France).
In 1795, during the Chouannerie, vicomte de Scépaux established his headquarters there.
Architecture
There are remains of an important defensive military structure from the Middle Ages. The château was extended with the construction of buildings from the 16th century to the end of the 19th. The two commons and the orangery were built in 1702 in the Louis XIV Style. The residence dates from 1892, constructed in Neo-Gothic style by Bibard and Lediberder.
The château is privately owned and not open to the public. It has been partially listed since 1993 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

Château de Bourmont

The earliest recorded chateau on our site dates all the way back to the medieval age in 1050, in a time of knights and chivalry. The original castle was probably part of the ‘Les Marches de Bretagne’ a series of fortresses that acted as a defensive line that protected the people of the ancient region of France known as Brittany. That chateau, and many others that followed it were destroyed in the wars, and conflicts that wracked the area in the centuries that followed. 
But our story truly starts with Louise-Ida de La Potherie, an exceptional woman that lived through some of France’s most turbulent times. She was the last of her line, from a noble family steeped in history. Her was father a famous colonel that fought in the Spanish wars, and against the forces of revolution, her only brother was killed in a duel. Alone, in this difficult period she finally found the love of her life, Le comte de La Rochefoucauld-Bayers. They married, and sought to make a refuge for themselves in the seat of her ancestral home. Together they set about to build a sanctuary, a testament of their love, and it is this monument that we know as the ‘Chateau Challain’. 
Work began in 1847, they commissioned Parisian architect Louis Visconti, famed for designing the Louvre extension, to replace the original 16th century castle. The owners chose Rene Hode, a well-known Angevin architect to oversee the building project. The chateau was designed to commemorate the passing of time. Its 4 towers represent the seasons, 12 turrets represent the lunar months, 26 spiral staircases represent the fortnights per year, 52 fireplaces represent the weeks of the year, and 365 windows represent each passing day. It covers an area of 7,600 square meters (nearly 82,000 square feet). 
Over 700 artisans worked on the construction, and although worked progressed quickly it was far from straightforward, with the work being delayed by yet another revolution in 1848. With the work close to completion tragedy struck once more. In the early winter of 1854, and in the shadow of the nearly completed chateau Le Comte died. Heartbroken, and with two children, Louise, now Countess La Rochefoucauld-Bayers, was determined to see the project through to the end, and personally oversaw the final stages of construction. 
Ultimately, the chateau became one of the grandest private French homes of the 19th century. It boasts a wealth of architectural detail, including intricate woodcarvings, Gothic panelling and sculptures, large working fireplaces, and hand painted ceilings. It is situated on a beautifully manicured estate, which occupies one corner of a quaint village. Because of the property’s ambiance and the design of the castle itself, Chateau Challain is often referred to as the "Neo-Gothic Jewel of Anjou" or "Le Petite Chambord.” 
In 2002, the Nicholson family purchased Chateau Challain and began the painstaking process of restoring the castle to its original splendour. Together with an international team of craftsman, the Nicholsons continue to restore, preserve, and protect this valuable piece of French history.
https://www.chateauchallain.com

Château de Challain-la-Potherie

The medieval castle of Pouancé is located in Pouancé, Maine-et-Loire, France, at the western border of the old province of Anjou, as a defence against Brittany. Along with the remains of the city walls, it covers a surface of three hectares. It is nicknamed the "second castle of Anjou" because of its size, which is just less that of the castle of Angers. It belongs to the Breton march, facing the Breton castle of Châteaubriant.
Situated in a location which was fortified in the 11th century, the castle was built between the 12th and 15th centuries. Besieged several times during the Hundred Years' War, it became a strategic fortress at the end of the 15th century, during the Mad War. Ruined during the 16th century and completely abandoned since the 18th, it was saved from destruction when Louis Bessière, a inhabitant of Pouancé, decided to restore the building in the 1960s. The castle is now owned by the town of Pouancé and is open to visitors during the summer months.
The castle has been listed as a monument historique since 7 July 1926. Despite volunteers and amateur excavations over 40 years, little is known about the structure of the castle, due to a lack of deep archaeological surveys.
History
The early history of the castle
At the end of the early middle ages, the town of Pouancé, at the boundaries of the Breton march and the province of Anjou, was most likely fortified to oppose the Breton castle at Châteaubriant. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1049-1060, inside the cartulary of Carbay, which recounts the count of Anjou maintained troops and a vicarius named Landri or Landry. Fragments of Merovingian sarcophagus were found in the walls of the nearby church at Saint-Aubin, proving the existence of a human settlement in Pouancé before the construction of the castle.
After the death of Landri, the castle was given by the count of Anjou to a close relation of Landri, Hervé de Martigné, vassal of the count of Rennes. Hervé already possessed the deed to Lourzais, a territory close to Pouancé. In 1066, the Duke of Brittany, Conan II took the castle, possibly with the help of Hervé. Following Hervé's death, around 1084, his son Gautier Hay succeed him. Emma, Gautier's heir, married Guillaume Ist of La Guerche in around 1130, uniting the seigneury of Pouancé-Martigné with La Guerche.
The lords of Pouancé then entered a rebellion against the Plantagenet. Geoffroy Ist, the grandson of Emma, took part in the revolt of 1173–74 with other Breton lords against Henry Plantagenet. They were defeated, and their castles destroyed. Geoffroy's son revolted against the Count of Anjou with Breton lords in 1196, and defeated the army of the seneschal of Anjou. At the beginning of the 13th century, the castle was the center of a vast seigneury located in Anjou and Brittany, consisting of the seigneuries of Pouancé, Martigné, La Guerche and Segré. It was around this time that the actual castle was erected, with the first towers and ramparts. Guillaume III, lord of Pouancé, established a levee on the Verzée river, thus forming a lake alongside the castle, protecting the western front of the fortification, the side that faced Brittany.
The 13th century saw the beginning of the decline of the Pouancé family. Geoffroy II, the son of Guillaume III, died around 1244. His own son, Geoffroy III, died in 1263, leaving his daughter Jeanne the only heir. She married Jean of Beaumont. Their grandson, Jean II of Beaumont, failed to produce an heir with his first wife Isabeau of Harcourt, and subsequently married Marguerite of Poitiers. Louis of Beaumont, their only son, died in 1364 during the battle of Cocherel. Marie Chamaillard, the granddaughter of Isabeau (the first wife of Jean II) regained the seigneury of Pouancé, adding it to the fiefs already owned by her husband, Pierre II of Alençon.
The Hundred Years' War
Between 1371 and 1379, Pierre II built the Main Tower and the machicolation on the castle. Some towers were altered by adding spiral staircases, notably in the Saint-Antoine tower. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the main keep and the ice-house were built.
he castle was attacked by a Breton army led by John V, Duke of Brittany in 1379. The castle may have been taken by betrayal. Pierre II then exchanged the seigneury with Bertrand du Guesclin for lands in Normandy. John V gave the fortress back to Bertrand's brother Olivier du Guesclin in 1381. Olivier sold back Pouancé to John V in 1389. When John V married his daughter Marie to Jean I, Duke of Alençon, Jean I was given the seigneury of Pouancé as her dowry.
The son of Jean I, Jean II of Alençon, was captured by the English during the battle of Verneuil. After his release, financially ruined by the ransom, he decided to put pressure on his uncle John VI, Duke of Brittany to pay the remaining part of his mother's dowry. He kidnapped Jean of Malestroit, Bishop of Nantes and Chancellor of Brittany, to force the Duke of Brittany to pay. Refusing to be blackmailed, John VI gathered his army and launched a siege of the castle on January 6, 1432. The castle of Pouancé was besieged for 5 weeks by 6000 men of the Duke's army and his English allies, and bombed by 7 cannons. After 5 weeks under siege, despite the ongoing resistance of the castle, Jean II decided to negotiate and the siege was lifted on February 19.
Eleven years after this siege, in 1443, an English army, led by John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, besieged the castle. Despite a warning from Arthur III of Brittany, Jean II of Alençon counter-attacked with his men without waiting for reinforcements. His army was surprised by the English at night, and the counter-attack failed. The castle and the town managed to resist the 7000 men strong army of the English who lifted the siege after two or three weeks, leaving the faubourgs of the town destroyed.
The Breton War
In 1467, Jean II of Alençon plotted with Francis II, Duke of Brittany against the King of France, Louis XI of France. The Breton army attacked in October 1467 and besieged the castle, which was defended by Sir de Villier in the name of the King of France, without Jean's consent. After three days, the castle was taken and the Breton army looted and sacked the town, burning the town and the castle.
In July 1468, a French counter-attack drive the Breton out of Pouancé. Following this, the Angevin fortress became an essential part of the French system of defense and attack against Brittany. In 1472, Louis XI spent time in the fortress with more than 5,000 men when he learn Breton troops were gathering in La Guerche. In 1488, Louis II de la Trémoille assembled 12,000 men in Pouancé before launching the siege of Châteaubriant, starting a military campaign against Brittany that defeated the independent duchy.
Wars of Religion
In 1562, the seigneury fell into the hands of the Cossé-Brissac family, more precisely to Charles II de Cossé, Duke of Brissac. A fervent catholic, he entered the Catholic League in 1590 and opposed the King of France Henry IV. In 1592, Madam of Brissac sent Chanjus, commander of Pouancé's castle, to pay homage to the King in Angers. Despite a desire for neutrality, the town and the castle were occupied in 1593 by 50 soldiers of Charles, Duke of Mayenne, a member of the Catholic League. He joined the King in 1596, but Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, Governor of Brittany, continued the combat. In September 1597, Chanjus, commander of Pouancé, handed over the castle to Mercœur who is believed to have established a garrison. He finally surrendered in March 1598, bringing an end to the eightieth war of religion in France.
Abandonment of the castle
For a long time, the castle lost its residential function, with only the family of Cossé-Brissac using it on rare occasions. However, François de Cossé died in the castle in 1651 and his body was buried within the grounds. During the 17th and the 18th centuries, some rooms were still inhabitable, since several people were mentioned as residing inside: a gardener in 1620, a lieutenant of bailliage died there in 1671, and an officer dwelled there between 1756 and 1767. A tax office was situated in a lower room of the castle at the beginning of the 17th century. However, many of the officers in charge of the administration of the seigneury were living outside of the walled city of Pouancé, inside their own residences. As early as 1541, the ancient ramparts were partially in disrepair and largely abandoned. During the 18th century, inhabitants of Pouancé were allowed to use the stone for their houses if they owned them.
During the second half of the 18th century, inhabitants of the town decided to partially deconstruct the gatehouse, as well as fill in the moat and build several dwellings and workshops inside the bailey, along the curtain wall, thus commencing a long period of degradation. Yet during the archaeological congress of France in 1871 in Angers, the fortress was judged to be "a beautiful feudal ruin, one of the most beautiful doubtlessly possessed by Anjou". In 1880, in a speech given during the graduation ceremony at an Angers lycée, Paul Lehugeur mentioned the castle of Pouancé: "All corners of Anjou have feudal ruins, but it is to Pouancé we look for its great fortress, with its double wall and powerful defenses".
In 1911, a Catholic private school, the Christ Child School, was built between the bastion and the northern postern. The upper part of the northern curtain wall was destroyed. In 1915, one of the towers, the Mill Tower, collapsed along with a part of the curtain wall, opening a breach into the outside walls which were formerly preserved. The castle was listed as a Monument historique in 1926. In 1929, the inspector-general of historical monuments carried out a plan of the ruins, in order to "at least preserve the memory" of the castle. After surveys showed the risk of collapse, the Marquis of Montault, owner of the castle, evacuated the remaining residents. In 1934, the Beaux-arts destroyed the now abandoned houses inside the bailey. The upper part of a second tower, the Criminal tower, collapsed in 1936. The top of the remaining towers and ramparts were restored to prevent further degradation.

Château médiéval de Pouancé

The Château de Châteaubriant is a medieval castle strongly modified during the Renaissance, located in the commune of Châteaubriant in the Loire-Atlantique département of France. The original castle was founded in the 11th century on the eastern border of Brittany and, such as the fortresses in Vitré, Fougères, Ancenis and Clisson, it was defending the duchy against Anjou and the Kingdom of France.
The castle was renovated several times during the Middle Ages and the town of Châteaubriant developed at its side. During the Mad War, the castle was seized by the French after a siege. The keep and the halls, partially destroyed, were renovated in the flamboyant style. Eventually, during the 16th century, the château obtained its definitive appearance when the new Renaissance palace was built against the medieval enceinte.
Location
The château is located between the Châteaubriant-Rennes railway on the east and the old town centre on the west. To the north, it is bordered by the river Chère which forms a natural moat, and on the south by a wide square, the place Charles-de-Gaulle.
The Chère is retained by a medieval dam and forms a pond, the étang de la Torche. The dam serves as a bridge and it was originally an access to the walled town. A stream, the Rollard, also formed a moat on the western side of the castle. It was covered over during the 19th century and now flows under the town centre.
The subsoil in Châteaubriant is made of sedimentary rocks (schist and sandstone) belonging to the Armorican massif. These rocks form folds and outcrops. The château is built on a promontory which is steep on the north, where the Chère flows, but slopes in terraces towards the south.
History
Middle Ages
After the French Revolution, the château was sold and divided several times, and was finally transformed into an administrative centre, with the seat of the sous-préfecture, a court and a police station. All these offices closed down after 1970, and nowadays the château is partly opened to visitors.
The castle is first mentioned between 1030 and 1042 but it was founded earlier, at the beginning of the 11th century.[citation needed] It was first built by Brient, an envoy of the count of Rennes, to create an outpost in the Pays de la Mée. This region around Châteaubriant was then a buffer zone between the counties of Rennes, Nantes and Angers, but also a place for trading. The Béré fair was for example founded in 1049 in a suburb of the town. Brient is also responsible for the construction of the Béré church and priory, two major landmarks of medieval Châteaubriant.
The first castle was a motte-and-bailey structure made of wood. It dominated the river Chère and the Rollard and had two concentric moats. One was dry, the other filled with water. It also had a big square keep, rebuilt in stone around 1100. Two halls and a chapel were added during the 12th century, the latter being completed in the 13th century. In the same period, Châteaubriant emerged as a town on the banks of the Rollard. City walls were built between the 13th and the 15th centuries.
The upper-ward gatehouse, the curtain wall and most of the towers were built during the 13th century. The gatehouse still includes its two towers which were originally 25 meters high. The halls and the keep were rebuilt in the 14th century, and the lower-bailey gatehouse was completed before 1400.
The early House of Châteaubriant, whose founder was Brient, became extinct in 1383. The barony of Châteaubriant was then inherited by the House of Dinan, another Breton noble family. The Dinans found themselves without male offspring in 1444. In 1486, the baroness of Châteaubriant, Françoise de Dinan, the last of her family, opposed Francis II of Brittany. She prepared the "Châteaubriant treaty" by which the barons of Brittany asked the King of France to settle a Breton internal dispute. The treaty, which betrayed the authority of Francis II, was one of the reasons for the Mad War and showed the weakness of the Duchy of Brittany as a political entity. Brittany and France went to war, Breton castles were taken one after the other by the French. Châteaubriant was besieged in 1488 and surrendered after one week.
At the end of the war, Françoise de Dinan had the castle restored and improved. As the old walls did not fit the new military exigences, a bastion was built. The keep and the halls, which also lost their defensive capacity, were opened by large windows. Inside, the baroness ordered new fireplaces in the Flamboyant style.
Renaissance
The improvements on the keep and the halls were not sufficient for Françoise de Dinan who wanted a fashionable residence. She ordered a new palace, built in the lower bailey. This palace has been called Bâtiment des Gardes ("guards' building") since the French Revolution, because it was then used by the National Guard. The new residence was completed at the beginning of the 16th century, after the death of Françoise. At that time, Châteaubriant belonged to Jean de Laval, her grandson and a member of the House of Laval.
However, Jean de Laval was not satisfied with the new palace, a stark building typical of the First Renaissance. He ordered a new wing, built around 1530 in an Italian style, and characteristic of the Second Renaissance. Jean de Laval is also responsible for the long gallery which forms an angle with the palace.
Jean de Laval died heirless in 1543 and gave his possessions and titles to the Constable of France Anne de Montmorency, one of the most powerful Frenchmen of the time. The constable completed the works begun by Jean de Laval but established his residence at the Château d'Écouen, close to Paris.
Modern period
Châteaubriant belonged to the House of Montmorency until 1632 when Henri II de Montmorency was dispossessed and beheaded for felony. The barony was given to the Princes of Condé who kept it until the French Revolution.
The Condés slightly improved the château, for example in redesigning some rooms, such as the Chambre dorée in the Jean de Laval wing, decorated after 1632. However, the princes did not live in Châteaubriant, but at the Château de Chantilly and in their hôtel particulier in Paris. The distance of the Dukes of Montmorency and later the Princes of Condé permitted the town council to gain some independence, but the lords still maintained local officers in the château.
The roof of the keep collapsed after a storm around 1720. The building was not restored afterwards and slowly fell into ruin.
Since the Revolution
The prince Louis V de Bourbon-Condé was one of the first nobles to go into exile during the French Revolution. He left France for England in 1789. The National Guard of the town settled in the château, which was also used to house various storehouses and a police station. Several parts of the buildings and courtyards were sold or rented to locals and the moat was partially filled in.
During the Bourbon Restoration, the estate was progressively returned to the Prince of Condé. However, he eventually decided to sell it. The town council, in need of buildings for its jail, court and services, wanted to buy the château, but the prince did not wish to deal with the administration, and the mayor bought the property personally. He left the lower bailey gatehouse to the département, which transformed it into a jail, and sold the rest to the town council. The mayor, Martin Connesson, also kept a part of the estate and built a new house on it in 1822.
In 1839, the council considered pulling down the keep to use its stones to build a school and a bridge. This project met strong opposition and the château was included on the first list of monuments historiques in 1840.
The town could not maintain the château in good repair and sold it to the Duke of Aumale in 1845. The Duke settled in the house built by the mayor Martin Connesson and refurbished it. Being a son of Louis-Philippe I, he followed his father to England after the Revolution of 1848 and sold the château to the Loire-Atlantique département in 1853. The sous-préfecture moved there in 1854, and the 1822 house became the residence of the sous-préfet. The police station, the court and the jail, which were relocated somewhere else after the Duke of Aumale acquired the estate, came back in 1855.
In 1887, the département asked for the removal of the château from the monument historique list because it could not afford the repairs required by the authorities. However, several restoration campaigns were mounted after 1909, especially on the keep. The château was eventually reintegrated into the list in 1921. In 1944, the southern end of the Renaissance palace was destroyed during an American bombing raid.
Major restoration campaigns were carried out in the 1960s and after 2000. Nonetheless, the château has never been fully opened to visitors, who can only access the wards and some rooms, such as the Chambre dorée and the Bâtiment des Gardes which hosts exhibitions. However, all the administration services progressively closed after 1970. For instance, the police station moved out in 1971, the public library followed in 2006, the sous-préfecture in 2012, and the court was closed in 2009. The house built by Martin Connesson remains the residence of the sous-préfet.
The castle
The castle is divided between an upper ward and a lower bailey. The bailey, on the south, is opened by a 14th-century gatehouse, the Pavillon des Champs, which is the main entrance for the whole castle. The upper ward is accessible from the bailey through a second gatehouse. It is located on the highest point, dominating the Chère, and it is bordered by the seigniorial buildings: the two halls and the chapel.
The keep is built on both the upper and lower ward and also dominates the Chère. It was built in stone around 1100 on the site of the primitive motte. Later rebuilt in the 14th century, it felt into ruins during the 18th century. It forms an irregular square, its walls are 18 m long and 3.5 m thick. Remains of machicolation are visible on the top. The two halls form an angle with the keep. They were rebuilt in the 14th century and the opening of new windows after the Mad War did not alter their austere look. The small hall, partially destroyed, has a peculiar roof, similar to a flat onion dome, made around 1562. The result is somewhat clumsy and is only an experimental attempt.
Located close to the small hall, the chapel was built around 1142 and refurbished in the 13th century. Some hundred years later, it was divided in two and the western part was turned into the chaplain's house. The monument is romanesque but gothic windows were added in the 16th century. The windows on the chaplain's house form a single bay culminating with a gothic dormer. Mural paintings and 15th-century floor tiles were discovered during archeological excavations.
The gatehouse is partly ruined but it still has its two towers. It is built in sandstone with alternating lines of schist. Parts of the enceinte and the chemin de ronde are preserved.
The Pavillon des Champs ("fields pavilion"), which opens the lower bailey, originally had a drawbridge. Its rear half was built in the 14th century and the front dates from the 16th century.