Chateaux of Pas-de-Calais

Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer

The Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer was built in the 13th century by Philippe Hurepel (1180-1234), count of Boulogne and son of Philip II of France. Following the death of his half-brother, king Louis VIII after a short three-year reign, Hurepel was one of the leaders of a rebellion against the regent, Blanche de Castille, mother of the minor Louis IX. He constructed castles at Calais and Hardelot and refortified Boulog ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

Château de Villers-Châtel

Château de Villers-Châtel, built in the 14th century, belonged to the lord of Gournai during the siege of Arras in 1414. The family Habarcq owned the castle until the middle of the 17th century. After several owners, Nicolas Mazel Leval bought the chateau in 1747 and restored it. During the World War I, the castle was converted into a field hospital.
Founded: 14th century | Location: Villers-Châtel, France

Château d'Hardelot

Building located at Condette, the castle of Hardelot is a manor house remodeled in the 19th century in the neo Tudor style, on foundations from the first half of the 13th century. The first castle at this site was built in the 12th century by the Counts of Boulogne. The curtain walls date back to that time. The present castle was built by Philip I, Count of Boulogne and son of Philip II of France, in 1222. He also built ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Condette, France

Château de Bernicourt

The first Château de Bernicourt was built around 1374 but the current one dates from 1743.
Founded: 1743 | Location: Roost-Warendin, France

Château d'Esquelbecq

Château d"Esquelbecq was built in 1606 to the site of ancient fort from the 9th century. The square form castle with eight turrets is surrounded by moat and accessed by two bridges. Today Esquelbecq castle is privately owned and cannot be visited.
Founded: 1606 | Location: Esquelbecq, France

Château d'Olhain

The Château d'Olhain is probably the most famous castle of the Artois region. It is located in the middle of a lake which reflects its picturesque towers and curtain walls. It was also a major stronghold for the Artois in medieval times and testimony to the power of the Olhain family, first mentioned from the 12th century. The existence of the castle was known early in the 13th century, but the present construction is l ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen, France

Château de Potelle

Château de Potelle was built around 1290 by Gilles de Mortagne. It has been looted and damaged in wars (1477, 1654, 1712 and 1793). The last restoration was made in 1817. The gate house was erected in the 13th-14th centuries and may have been located to the site of ancient Roman castrum. The chapel was moved to the courtyard of in 1519. Today Château de Potelle is a private home.
Founded: 1290 | Location: Potelle, France

Donjon de Bours

Château or Donjon de Bours was most likely built in the 12th century by Hugues de Bours. Originally it would have had a bailey defended by a crenellated wall guarding several outbuildings. Both the bailey and the castle would have been moated. At present all traces of the bailey are gone. Bours Castle is a keep built out of sandstone and has a rectangular plan with six corbelled turrets. It has walls of 70 cm thick and ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Bours, France

Château de Rametz

Château de Rametz was built in the 18th century to the grounds of former 14th century castle. The originally square form castle has four round corner towers and it is surrounded by the moat. Today it is a private home.
Founded: 18th century | Location: Saint-Waast, France

Château d'Esnes

Château d'Esnes was built originally in 1007 by Alard Esnes. Today's castle dates mainly from the 15th and 18th centuries. The original medieval castle was surrounded by a moat. Since the French Revolution, the castle served as farm building. It was also a German prison for Russian soldiers during the First World War.
Founded: 1007 | Location: Esnes, France

Château d'Audignies

Château d"Audignies was probably built by Guillaume de Sars who lived in 1370-1438. The castle was rebuilt with two-storey tower in the early 17th century. Today the castle consists of three wings arranged in square and surrounded by a moat. A coat of arms of lords Du Mont dominates the entrance of the drawbridge.
Founded: 15th century | Location: Audignies, France

Château de Varlemont

Château de Varlemont in Barly was built between 1782-1784 by Vindicien Blin. Due the Great Revolution it was abandoned and moved to the hands of Arras bishop in 1812-1818. Later it was left to decay until the bought by Jacques d"Antin Vaillac in 1970. Today Château de Varlemont represents the pure Louis XVI style.
Founded: 1782-1784 | Location: Barly, France

Château de Tramecourt

The construction of the Château de Tramecourt started in 1615 by the Tramecourt family to the site of medieval castle. It was transformed into a mansion in 1740. The work continued since 1848.
Founded: 1615 | Location: Tramecourt, France

Château de Créminil

Château de Créminil was built in 1443 by La May family to the site of older fortification (destroyed by English Army). In 1540 Créminil was owned by Hugues de Buleux (advisor to the regent of the Netherlands and grand bailiff of Aire). After the castle was burned in 1543 it was rebuilt in the 17th century. In 1670 it was owned by Antoine de Wignacourt and from 1687 till the Revolution by the Merchiers family. Until 19 ...
Founded: 1443 | Location: Estrée-Blanche, France

Château de la Motte Fénelon

Château de la Motte Fénelon was designed in 1850 by the famous Parisian architect Jacques Ignace Hittorff. It was built for Alphonse Brabant de Leau (1818-1881) and called first Château de Morenchies according the former commune near Cambrai. In 1962 it was bought by the Maison Familiale group. The castle was renamed in 1975 after its new owner families. During the both World Wars the château was ...
Founded: 1850 | Location: Cambrai, France

Château de Grand-Rullecourt

The fortified Flemish castle château de Grand-Rullecourt with its towers and crow’s-foot gables overlooks the road from Avesnes-le-Comte to Lucheux. The lords of Rullecourt were the generous donors of land to the Abbey of Mont-St-Eloi. Joan of Arc passed there as a prisoner in 1430. Antoine-Constant de Hamel started to build the new castle in 1746. After the French Revolution, the chateau was sold as a nation ...
Founded: 1746 | Location: Grand-Rullecourt, France

Château de Grand-Rullecourt

Château de Grand-Rullecourt was built in 1746 by Antoine-Constant de Hamel, next to the previous castle. After the French Revolution, the chateau was sold as a national asset, (Antoine"s son having died on the scaffold). His grandson bought it back but couldn"t afford to keep it. It later belonged to Captain Wallerand de Hauteclocque, who was killed during World War I. After the war, the property was sold ...
Founded: 1746 | Location: Grand-Rullecourt, France

Château de Trélon

Château de Trélon originates from the 11th century, when it was owned by the d"Avesnes family. In 1478 the castle was besieged by John of Luxembourg. It has been damaged, burned and rebuilt serveral times during the history. The current castle was built in the early 1700s.
Founded: 12th century | Location: Trélon, France

Château de Liettres

Château de Liettres was probably built some years before 1479 by Sir Simon de Luxembourg, provost of the church of Saint-Omer. In that year it was burned by the progressing army of Maximilian I of Austria. In 1542 Liettres Castle was again burned and partly destroyed by the troops of the Duke of Vendome. Shortly thereafter the castle was bought by Jean de Zomberghe after which it remained in the hands of his descendants ...
Founded: 1470s | Location: Liettres, France

Château de Couin

Château de Couin was built between 1745 and 1749 by the Landas family. It was designed by the architect d"Huez. The next owner, the Louvencourt family, continued the work in the 19th century. During the First World War the castle was a headquarters of British army medical care. Today Château de Couin is a hotel.
Founded: 1745-1749 | Location: Couin, France

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.