Château de Bournazel, Bournazel, France

Château de Bournazel was built in the mid-16th century by Jean de Buisson. He replaced the older castle with Renaissance style residence. Today the gardens are added to the List of Remarkable Gardens of France.

User Reviews

Brian Kennan (9 months ago)
One of the most beautiful chateaus that I have visited. The architecture and stonework is exceptional. Extensive renovation under way. Beautiful gardens. The location is out of the way on the outskirts of nowhere and the village is picturesque but has almost nothing going on. Having said that, it's very worthwhile to visit and I will revisit. Perfect destination for a motorcycle day out.

Garry Hardman (2 years ago)
The castle and the surrounding village is a lovely place

Cedric Ramos (3 years ago)
Very good visit, and explanation of the renovation. The guide was very good and the castle is beautiful

Chris Flynn (3 years ago)
A huge amount of effort has been put into renovating the house and gardens. No doubt improvements will continue. Unfortunately the tour guide did not speak English and there is no audio assistance. The English guide book is very short and does not match up to the detailed description given by the guide. We cut our visit short of the house a walked around the gardens. Please provide an audio guide for foreign visitors.

Matthieu B (3 years ago)
A gorgeous castle and its garden. The castle is still under renovation but there are guided tours. Our tour guide was a young lady very passionate about history. We passed by each room of the castle and she commented on the architecture the furniture and the paintings. A very enlightening visit.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Inna_Zyu

Historic Site of the week

Kalozha Church

The Kalozha church of Saints Boris and Gleb is the oldest extant structure in Hrodna. It is the only surviving monument of ancient Black Ruthenian architecture, distinguished from other Orthodox churches by prolific use of polychrome faceted stones of blue, green or red tint which could be arranged to form crosses or other figures on the wall.

The church is a cross-domed building supported by six circular pillars. The outside is articulated with projecting pilasters, which have rounded corners, as does the building itself. The ante-nave contains the choir loft, accessed by a narrow gradatory in the western wall. Two other stairs were discovered in the walls of the side apses; their purpose is not clear. The floor is lined with ceramic tiles forming decorative patterns. The interior was lined with innumerable built-in pitchers, which usually serve in Eastern Orthodox churches as resonators but in this case were scored to produce decorative effects. For this reason, the central nave has never been painted.

The church was built before 1183 and survived intact, depicted in the 1840s by Michał Kulesza, until 1853, when the south wall collapsed, due to its perilous location on the high bank of the Neman. During restoration works, some fragments of 12th-century frescoes were discovered in the apses. Remains of four other churches in the same style, decorated with pitchers and coloured stones instead of frescoes, were discovered in Hrodna and Vaŭkavysk. They all date back to the turn of the 13th century, as do remains of the first stone palace in the Old Hrodna Castle.

In 2004, the church was included in the Tentative List of UNESCO"s World Heritage Sites.

Do you know an ancient castle or magnificent church near you?

Why not share it with other people interested in history? You can add your own historic sites and attractions to SpottingHistory.com.

It's absolutely free, easy, and doesn't even need registration!

Upload data

Château de Bournazel

Address

Details

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

History of Guernsey & Jersey

Most beautiful castles in Lithuania

Cultural Landscape of Sintra, Portugal

Historic Site of the week

Kalozha Church

Looks like you are a history fan!