Rescheduled

Opening of a 15th century classical Marchois castle

Name: Apertura de un castillo clásico de March del siglo XV
Start: 2023-09-16T10:00:00+02:00
End: 2023-09-17T17:00:00+02:00
Location: Château de Montlebeau

This mansion was preceded by a pond now filled. The construction was on three levels. The plan is that of a classic Marchois castle, with two rooms on each level, two...

16 i 17 septiembre 2023Passed

©Chris Brookes Photography

This mansion was preceded by a pond now filled. The construction was on three levels. The plan is that of a classic Marchois castle, with two rooms on each level, two corner towers and a screw staircase tower sharing the main facade in two. Inside, the floors have disappeared. There are traces of framing of the beams and floors. The chimneys, including the one on the first floor, are decorated with capitals. It is one of the few remaining noble dwellings of the vassals of the viscounty of Bridiers.

About the location

Château de Montlebeau

Montlebeau, 23300 Vareilles

Creuse
Nouvelle-Aquitaine

The fief of Montlebeau paid homage to the viscounty of neighbouring Bridiers. This feudal castle is mentioned for the first time in 1497, its first owner being a sieur de la Marche. It is also one of the few remaining noble mansions of the vassals of Bridiers; it is therefore an important element in the history of the North-West Creusois.
The house was built a little before, in the second half of the fifteenth century, a period of English threats coming from Guyenne, while the Hundred Years War turned to the advantage of the French. It was then a question of fortifying the French positions and thanking the local lords by offering them the lands taken from them to the enemy. The construction of such a structure also benefited medium-term employment and normally provided many generations of farmers linked to the estate. A document (confession) of 1526 allows us to know that the house had a courtyard, a chapel (ruined since the seventeenth century), an oven, various outbuildings, all surr