Château du Grand-Pressigny and its keep were built in the early 12th century. Guillaume I de Pressigny, the area’s first known ruler, completed the construction in the late 12th or early 13th century.
The Pressigny family owned the fortress until 1301. The property in the heart of a border area gave power to the ruler who was involved in quarrels between the King of England (Richard Lionheart and John) and the King of France (Philippe-Auguste) who fought bitter battles against each other.
The fortress was owned by the Beauvau family then the Savoie-Villars family in the 15th to 16th century. The medieval building was turned into a Renaissance-style château by Marquis Honorat de Savoie-Villars, François I’s cousin and a high-ranking member of the court.
The Pressigny land changed hands several times in the 18th century: its owners included the Masson de Maison Rouge family and the Voisins, the last rulers of Pressigny. The château was sold as state property in 1796 and dismantled by its successive owners.
When the château was turned into a stone quarry in the 19th century, the local and regional councils saved the site from ruin by buying it.
The Prehistory Museum moved into the Renaissance gallery in 1955. Indre-et-Loire General Council (now Departmental Council) became the owner of the entire site in 1988. The keep lost almost all its north-eastern and south-eastern walls that same year. Today Château du Grand-Pressigny still hosts the Le Grand-Pressigny Museum.
References:Ogrodzieniec Castle is a ruined medieval castle originally built in the 14th–15th century by the W³odkowie Sulimczycy family. Established in the early 12th century, during the reign of Boles³aw III Wrymouth, the first stronghold was razed by the Tatars in 1241. In the mid-14th century a new gothic castle was built here to accommodate the Sulimczycy family. Surrounded by three high rocks, the castle was well integrated into the area. The defensive walls were built to close the circuit formed by the rocks, and a narrow opening between two of the rocks served as an entrance.
In 1470 the castle and lands were bought by the wealthy Cracovian townsmen, Ibram and Piotr Salomon. Then, Ogrodzieniec became the property of Jan Feliks Rzeszowski, the rector of Przemy¶l and the canon of Cracow. The owners of the castle about that time were also Jan and Andrzej Rzeszowskis, and later Pilecki and Che³miñski families. In 1523 the castle was bought by Jan Boner.