Visit of the exterior of the Château de Vaux
The oldest date mentioned for the castle of Vaux dates back to 1300 with Lord Salomon of the Chevrière. Several owners follow to arrive at the present family, the Gaultier de Brullon whose name appears in 1753 at Vaux. The Levêque family present today are the children and grandchildren of Huguette Gaultier de Brullon married Levêque. The original seigneury consisted of a fortified castle, a chapel and service buildings surrounded by an enclosure wall, towers, a drawbridge and moat. The castle: the Gaultier family of Brullon had plans made in 1786 by the architect Dunoyer to create a more comfortable home in place of the castle certainly more austere. Due to the revolution beginning in 1789, the project was postponed, the construction was finally completed in 1821. The pediment bears this date and the arms of the sponsors: Augustin Alexandre Gaultier de Brullon and his wife Marie Philippe Jarret de la Mairie. The moats have been redesigned with softening of the right angles of more military appearance, creation of an island, removal of part of the wall of enclosure and towers. The chapel: it was built in 1298 and dedicated to Saint George in 1300. Its construction was probably decided on a return to crusade. It has all the characteristics of a chapel housing relics: It was built outside the castle to facilitate the visit. It has a low opening with a grid and probably a trunk to the left of the entrance. It has two small rooms, each with a small opening on the chapel that focuses the visitor’s gaze on the altar and thus on the relic that was next to it. It is crossed on all its width in the basement by a vault which passes under the altar and which allowed the pilgrims, according to an ancient tradition, to pass under the relic and to soak up its radiance. Finally, this thesis on the relics is reinforced by the fresco on the left of the altar where we clearly see an angel raising the panel of a red and gold tent of a typical shape of the Middle East as if to make discover to the visitor something to admire. This oriental form also justifies the thesis of the return of crusade because this drawing had to be given to a local decorator by a person returning from the Middle East.