Built in the 13th century by the lords of Poudenas, vassals of Edward I Plantagenet, Duke of Aquitaine and King of England, the Château de Poudenas defended the valley of the Gélise, overlooking it by 50 meters, at the opening of the Landes Forest.
A military fortification until the 16th century, the castle was then adorned with mullioned windows, opening the keep to the north and south. A hundred years later, a complete redesign adorned the inner courtyard with two terraces each supported by four arcades, and the main facade with a triple gallery reminiscent of an Italian villa and its landscape.
The monument has been classified as a historic monument since August 22, 1984, for its facades and roofs of the keep and the buildings surrounding the main courtyard, its south facade with its gallery and terraces, its corresponding roof, its terrace in front of the castle facade, its stone staircase with straight flights, its fireplace in the grand salon and reception room, and its surrounding wall. It has also been listed since May 26, 1952, for the rest of its facades and roofs.
References:Ehrenbreitstein Fortress was built as the backbone of the regional fortification system, Festung Koblenz, by Prussia between 1817 and 1832 and guarded the middle Rhine region, an area that had been invaded by French troops repeatedly before. The fortress was never attacked.
Early fortifications at the site can be dated back to about 1000 BC. At about AD 1000 Ehrenbert erected a castle. The Archbishops of Trier expanded it with a supporting castle Burg Helferstein and guarded the Holy Tunic in it from 1657 to 1794. Successive Archbishops used the castle's strategic importance to barter between contending powers; thus in 1672 at the outset of war between France and Germany the Archbishop refused requests both from the envoys of Louis XIV and from Brandenburg's Ambassador, Christoph Caspar von Blumenthal, to permit the passage of troops across the Rhine.