Château des Ducs d'Alençon

Alençon, France

The 15th century Château des Ducs was a massive castle in Alençon. The first castle, built in the 11th century, is completely disappeared today. The next castle was built by Peter II, the count of Alençon between 1361-1404. It was demolished 1592. Today only a impressive gatehouse and part of the walls remain.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Rue de la Chaussée 45-47, Alençon, France

See all sites in Alençon

Details

Founded: 1361-1404
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in France
Historical period: Valois Dynasty and Hundred Year's War (France)

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Omar Eteish (2 years ago)
Not a bad place to visit worth not more than 10 minutes as a tour

Алексей Баг (2 years ago)
Beautiful place. Must see.

Justin MacDonald (3 years ago)
This Chateau in Alencon is beautiful with an interesting and extensive history. The main defences and towers remain with a lovely garden area and playground in what was the castle courtyard. The castle itself as at November 2022 is being renovated internally and looks that it will take some time. It would be great to learn more about the role of the chateau over the centuries and its more recent role as a prison used by the gestapo in WW2. It's a pretty part of the town with plenty of parking available, best to park have a wander around the chateau and explore the rest of the town on foot, everything is within close walking distance.

robin Pailthorpe (3 years ago)
Beautiful chateau, well furnished and explained. Recommended

Noel Mahon (4 years ago)
What a lovely place to stay for a few days, we used the Aires municipal €12 per night with all of the facilities. Alencon.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.