Discovery of the conservatory of medieval war machines

Name: Découverte du conservatoire des machines de guerre médiévales
Start: 2023-09-16T10:00:00+02:00
End: 2023-09-17T18:00:00+02:00
Location: Château de tiffauges (ensemble de vestiges)

Tiffauges Castle has about fifteen pieces in its conservatory of war machines tested during performances.

16 et 17 septembre 2023Passé

The Vendée Department invites you to discover the Chateau de Tiffauges and its amazing conservatory of medieval war machines. Clinging to a rocky spur, on an exceptional site at the confluence of the Sèvre Nantaise, the castle is a type of medieval military archiotecture.
Tiffauges Castle has about fifteen pieces in its conservatory of war machines tested during performances.
Covering defence, attack or construction, this conservatory is today the largest collection of medieval reconstitution objects in operation in Europe.
The site presents demonstrations of real shots, addressed in fun and educational ways, but also scientific thanks to the thematic visits.
True witnesses of the evolution of techniques, the jet machines constitute a real artillery that could be used for a siege or in open field.
Several centuries before the development of the powder artillery, huge jet engines demolished the walls of the castles by throwing projectiles of several hundred kilos.
Boasting the largest belfry in France, the Château de Tiffauges has recently expanded its collection with the acquisition of a new machine: THE LARGEST TREBUCHET WITH CARRIER WHEEL in Western France.

À propos du lieu

Château de tiffauges (ensemble de vestiges)

Rue de la Vallée, 85130 Tiffauges

Vendée
Pays de la Loire

The dungeon was the seat of an important barony as early as XI°, and was built in 1104\. Held at the beginning of the XV° by Gilles de Rais, who did substantial work there, the castle took an active part in the Wars of Religion in the second half of the XVI°. It fell into ruin between 1650 and 1700\. The extensive walled enclosure of 15 towers and a barbacan is an overview of the evolution of medieval military architecture: XII° squared dungeon with hemicylindrical buttresses, modified in its upper parts according to the residential and military imperatives of XV°; XIII° arched towers applied to the enclosure; northwest of the enclosure;here, the monumental defensive system of the Round and Vidame towers, presents the ultimate adaptation of the fortifications of the Middle Ages to the constraints of the artillery, around 1520.