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Founded: 13th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)
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The site of Château de Château-Larcher was first mentioned in 888, but nothing remains of the original Carolingian fortress. It became royal property under Saint Louis after he confiscated it from Hugues X de Lusignan, who had rebelled and sided with the English before the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242. The king had the castle destroyed in retaliation.
Rebuilt later, it was damaged during the Hundred Years’ War and again during the Wars of Religion by Protestant forces. The Rochechouart family rebuilt it in the 16th century but abandoned it in 1638.
During the French Revolution, it served as a stone quarry for locals. Despite the damage, some structures still stand: the entrance châtelet with two towers, the terrace with old stables and servant quarters, the keep, and a separate tower—once connected by a drawbridge.
The keep, built in the 13th century, is pentagonal and perched on a rocky spur. The entrance towers, rebuilt in the 14th century, once had battlements and a drawbridge. The captaincy building, dating from the 14th–15th century, still has its traditional Poitou tile roof. Since 1997, the castle has been owned by the town and now houses the tourist office.
The church of Notre-Dame and Saint-Cyprien is integrated to the castle, dating back to 12th century.
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.