Château de La Celle-Guenand

La Celle-Guenand, France

Château de La Celle-Guenand was originally founded as a monastery in the 10th century. Later in the 15th century it was reconstructed as a castle. The first known lord of this medieval château was Antoine de Guenand. From the 16th century until 1780 the estate was held by the Coutance family.

Religious conflict in 1779 had led to the removal of the pastor of La Celle-Guenand and the two parishes were merged, to be known as La Celle-Guenand. Jean Cantineau de Commacres lorded over the castle of La Celle-Guenand until 1785 the last years of the French monarchy. Followed by Pierre Gaullier to midway through the French Revolution until 1794.

The château was restored in the 17th century as a private Residence and additional outbuildins were built in the 19th century. Today it functions as a Bed & Breakfast hotel.

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Address

Rue du Château 14, La Celle-Guenand, France
See all sites in La Celle-Guenand

Details

Founded: 15th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in France

More Information

www.chateaucelleguenand.com
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.8/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours (52,4 km)
Tours Cathedral (52,4 km)
Château de Saché (42,7 km)
Château de Loches (21,6 km)
Château d'Amboise (52,6 km)
Château d'Azay-le-Rideau (47,7 km)
Château de Villandry (52,6 km)
Post Museum (52,4 km)
Château de Langeais (56,2 km)

User Reviews

Nick Brown (8 months ago)
Welcoming, comfortable, very dog friendly, food truly superb at a reasonable price, good area to visit
Tyler Greene (10 months ago)
We stayed at this place recently with my brother and sister-in-law. It's an incredible 15th century castle. Really comfortable stay and the owner was super friendly. And the food is great too.
Jules Jefferis (2 years ago)
It surely does not get any better than this. A truly exceptional experience staying in a beautiful old Chateau. Our room was large, very comfortable and seemingly quite recently renovated. The service is top notch. If you stay here (which you should) you must reserve dinner - chefs from a local cooking school come and make traditional french mealsn over five courses with matching wines. Magnifique!
Steve Baker (2 years ago)
Truly amazing hotel! Large and luxurious bedrooms and enormous bathrooms, set in beautiful gardens. Very helpful owner on hand to give advice. Prebook evening meal, you will never have something as good until your next visit to the Chateau!
Jonathan Knight (2 years ago)
Splendid hosting. Absolutely amazing, beautiful Chateau. Amazing dinner (optional) in many courses. Drinks and breakfast on the patio. Clean, comfortable, helpful & knowledgeable host. Definitely recommended!
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Beersel Castle

The moated castle at Beersel is one of the few exceptionally well-preserved examples of medieval fortifications in Belgium. It remains pretty much as it must have appeared in the 15th century. Remarkably, it was never converted into a fortified mansion. A visitor is able to experience at first-hand how it must have felt to live in a heavily fortified castle in the Middle Ages.

The castle was built in around 1420 as a means of defence on the outer reaches of Brussels. The tall, dense walls and towers were intended to hold any besiegers at bay. The moat and the marshy ground along its eastern, southern and western edges made any attack a formidable proposition. For that reason, any attackers would have chosen its weaker northern defences where the castle adjoins higher lying ground. But the castle was only taken and destroyed on one occasion in 1489, by the inhabitants of Brussels who were in rebellion against Maximilian of Austria.

After being stormed and plundered by the rebels it was partially rebuilt. The pointed roofs and stepped gables are features which have survived this period. The reconstruction explains why two periods can be identified in the fabric of the edifice, particularly on the outside.

The red Brabant sandstone surrounds of the embrasures, now more or less all bricked up, are characteristic of the 15th century. The other embrasures, edged with white sandstone, date from the end of the 15th century. They were intended for setting up the artillery fire. The merlons too are in white sandstone. The year 1617 can be clearly seen in the foundation support on the first tower. This refers to restorations carried out at the time by the Arenberg family.

Nowadays, the castle is dominated by three massive towers. The means of defence follow the classic pattern: a wide, deep moat surrounding the castle, a drawbridge, merlons on the towers, embrasures in the walls and in the towers, at more or less regular intervals, and machiolations. Circular, projecting towers ensured that attacks from the side could be thwarted. If the enemy were to penetrate the outer wall, each tower could be defended from embrasures facing onto the inner courtyard.

The second and third towers are flanked by watchtowers from which shots could be fired directly below. Between the second and third tower are two openings in the walkway on the wall. It is not clear what these were used for. Were these holes used for the disposing of rubbish, or escape routes. The windows on the exterior are narrow and low. All light entering comes from the interior. The few larger windows on the exterior date from a later period. It is most probable that the third tower - the highest - was used as a watchtower.

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