Château de la Motte-Jean, Saint-Coulomb, France

Château de la Motte-Jean, built originally in the 1100s, was owned for centuries by Du Guesclin family. It was probably built to the site of ancient Roman villa. The current château was completed in 1625. The old tower has been converted as a chapel.

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Château de la Motte-Jean

User Reviews

Ausra Adele (4 years ago)
Best place ever for romantic stay

Adele Vais (4 years ago)
amazing and very romantic and calm place to be. Owner/host is sincere and wonderful woman. If I ever go that direction again, will definitely stay in this place. Thank you!

Gonzalo Stabile (4 years ago)
A nice quiet place to stay and relax. The staff is very kind, the gardens are fabulous but the rooms are a bit small and the decoration is a bit dated. If you are looking for quiet countryside then this is for you, others might find it a bit overpriced for the amenities and find better logging in town. Note for those without cars there is a bus stop and the farm entrance which is roughly 500m from the two main buildings.

Rob Christmas (5 years ago)
A wonderful, peaceful and friendly place to stay. We very much enjoyed our week there.

Yinbo Ding (8 years ago)
Great hotel I have ever stayed. i enjoy the farm lifestyle.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Historic Site of the week

Arles Amphitheatre

The two-tiered Roman amphitheatre is probably the most prominent tourist attraction in the city of Arles, which thrived in Roman times. Built in 90 AD, the amphitheatre was capable of seating over 20,000 spectators, and was built to provide entertainment in the form of chariot races and bloody hand-to-hand battles. Today, it draws large crowds for bullfighting as well as plays and concerts in summer.

The building measures 136 m in length and 109 m wide, and features 120 arches. It has an oval arena surrounded by terraces, arcades on two levels (60 in all), bleachers, a system of galleries, drainage system in many corridors of access and staircases for a quick exit from the crowd. It was obviously inspired by the Colosseum in Rome (in 72-80), being built slightly later (in 90).

With the fall of the Empire in the 5th century, the amphitheatre became a shelter for the population and was transformed into a fortress with four towers (the southern tower is not restored). The structure encircled more than 200 houses, becoming a real town, with its public square built in the centre of the arena and two chapels, one in the centre of the building, and another one at the base of the west tower.

This new residential role continued until the late 18th century, and in 1825 through the initiative of the writer Prosper Mérimée, the change to national historical monument began. In 1826, expropriation began of the houses built within the building, which ended by 1830 when the first event was organized in the arena - a race of the bulls to celebrate the taking of Algiers.

Arles Amphitheatre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with other Roman buildings of the city, as part of the Arles, Roman and Romanesque Monuments group.

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