Château de Pontécoulant, Pontécoulant, France

Pontécoulant estate presents all the distinctive features of nobility: castle, gamekeeper and gardener's detached house, dovecote, landscaping park, vegetable garden, guest houses, farm, woods and grounds. The Le Doulcet de Pontécoulant family arrived there in the 14th century. Their home was rebuilt in the 16th century and enlarged in the 17th. Since the second part of 17th century, the family has lived in Caen and above all in Paris: the castle became a second home. The interior decoration, furniture and daily objects embody the way of life of this 19th century aristocratic family: dining room, lounge, billiard room, rooms in the ground and first floor hold pieces of furniture of diverse origins: French pieces with renown trademarks, exotic and local furniture showing the taste for travels and the Le Doulcet de Pontécoulants' attachment to the region.

References:

Musées Basse-Normandie

User Reviews

jessica van Wassenaar (3 years ago)
Mooi kasteeltje met mooie omgeving om te wandelen. Jammer dat de rondleiding in zeer beperkt engels wordt gegeven.

Steph Galland (3 years ago)
Ce lieu est tout simplement magique ! C'est un voyage dans le temps ! Les guides ont su nous faire voyager. On a envie d'y rester. Je l'ai fait découvrir à des amis et je souhaite continuer à passer le message afin que mon entourage, amis visitent le château de Pontécoulant.

jean-luc Hauguel (3 years ago)
Superbe château très bien entretenu, le personnel est d’une très grande gentillesse et très compétent. Le département ne doit surtout pas se séparer d’un tel joyau, ce serait contraire à la préservation des monuments historiques. De plus il est en super état et le parc est très agréable. Franchement vaut le détour , à visiter pour la modique somme de 4,00€ No comment

Karen Leech (3 years ago)
amazing grounds, the building is beautiful, the tours are at fixed times - sadly we missed it but just sitting in the tea room is enjoyable enough after a stroll around the nearby forest .(only tea, coffee biscuits on offer)

Mark Dyson (3 years ago)
Good chateau to visit and only 4 EUR for adults and free for children. Tour was in French and even though we were the only English people on the tour the girl doing the tour offered to explain in English to us but as we had already been given English leaflets with all details we declined the kind offer however our questions were answered.

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Château de Falaise

Château de Falaise is best known as a castle, where William the Conqueror, the son of Duke Robert of Normandy, was born in about 1028. William went on to conquer England and become king and possession of the castle descended through his heirs until the 13th century when it was captured by King Philip II of France. Possession of the castle changed hands several times during the Hundred Years' War. The castle was deserted during the 17th century. Since 1840 it has been protected as a monument historique.

The castle (12th–13th century), which overlooks the town from a high crag, was formerly the seat of the Dukes of Normandy. The construction was started on the site of an earlier castle in 1123 by Henry I of England, with the 'large keep' (grand donjon). Later was added the 'small keep' (petit donjon). The tower built in the first quarter of the 12th century contained a hall, chapel, and a room for the lord, but no small rooms for a complicated household arrangement; in this way, it was similar to towers at Corfe, Norwich, and Portchester, all in England. In 1202 Arthur I, Duke of Brittany was King John of England's nephew, was imprisoned in Falaise castle's keep. According to contemporaneous chronicler Ralph of Coggeshall, John ordered two of his servants to mutilate the duke. Hugh de Burgh was in charge of guarding Arthur and refused to let him be mutilated, but to demoralise Arthur's supporters was to announce his death. The circumstances of Arthur's death are unclear, though he probably died in 1203.

In about 1207, after having conquered Normandy, Philip II Augustus ordered the building of a new cylindrical keep. It was later named the Talbot Tower (Tour Talbot) after the English commander responsible for its repair during the Hundred Years' War. It is a tall round tower, similar design to the towers built at Gisors and the medieval Louvre.Possession of the castle changed hands several times during the Hundred Years' War. The castle was deserted during the 17th century. Since 1840, Château de Falaise has been recognised as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

A programme of restoration was carried out between 1870 and 1874. The castle suffered due to bombardment during the Second World War in the battle for the Falaise pocket in 1944, but the three keeps were unscathed.

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