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Founded: 15th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Valois Dynasty and Hundred Year's War (France)
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The Château de Dissay is located in the Vienne department, in the town of Dissay, France. Built in the late 15th century by Pierre d'Amboise, Bishop of Poitiers, it replaced an older structure. It served as the bishops' residence until the French Revolution in 1793. In 1434, Bishop Hugues de Combarel was authorized by King Charles VII to fortify the site with towers, moats, gates, and ramparts.
During the Third War of Religion, Admiral de Coligny seized the castle in 1569; bullet marks remain on the north tower. The towers once served as prisons, and the Abbé de Saint-Cyran was held there.
After 1850, Count Fruchard restored the castle and church, incorporating stained glass and architectural elements from a nearby collegiate church. The central section was rebuilt between 1900–1905 by architect M. Ardion.
The castle blends late Gothic and early Renaissance styles. It forms a large rectangular structure surrounded by moats, with two intact corner towers. Originally, a wooden drawbridge spanned the moat.
The entrance resembles that of Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, where Pierre d'Amboise was raised. Inside the keep are ornate stone fireplaces and a stone staircase.
From the original chapel remain some pillars and 15th-century wall paintings, including a depiction of King David. The bishop’s tomb was destroyed during the Revolution.
The formal gardens include water parterres, vases modeled after those at Versailles, and lions from an Istrian villa. The park, inspired by or possibly designed by André Le Nôtre, features classic layouts: alleys, circular clearings, and geometric design.
A canal leads to a charming Louis XV-style pavilion once used as a music salon. A gracefully designed stone staircase also reflects Louis XV style.
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.