Châlus-Maulmont Castle
| Châlus-Maulmont Castle | ||
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 Remains of the Châlus-Maulmont castle with a damaged southeast tower |
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| Alternative name (s): | Tour you fort | |
| Creation time : | 1275 to 1280 | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | Ruin - remains of the wall and tower stump preserved | |
| Place: | Châlus | |
| Geographical location | 45 ° 39 '20 " N , 0 ° 58' 42" E | |
| Height: | 370 m | |
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The castle Châlus-Maulmont ( French Château de Châlus-Maulmont ), also known as Tour du Fort , is located in the urban area of the French commune of Châlus in the Haute-Vienne department ( Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ).
geography
The hilltop castle , designed as a fortress , stands on a hill to the left of the small river valley of the Tardoire , at around 370 meters above sea level. On the other side of the valley opposite is a rocky promontory on which the Châlus-Chabrol castle sits. Rue Gourdon now leads past the east side of the castle ruins - with plenty of parking space for the visit.
The castle is part of the Richard-Cœur-de-Lion route .
geology
The Châlus-Maulmont castle is built on banded, leptynite eye gneisses of the northwestern Massif Central . The foliation of these highly metamorphic rocks from the lower gneiss cover of the Limousin strikes north here and dips to the east at around 40 degrees. The eye gneisses are folded into the surrounding paragneiss as a synclinal hinge .
description
The original floor plan of the castle was rectangular in nature in the 13th century with two opposite towers on the northwest and southeast corner. The main building ( Logis ) was two-story with large Gothic pointed arched windows (with double arches and a rose window above ) on the south and east sides, which illuminated the main lounge on the upper floor. The two towers were accessed from the upper floor through two slightly ogival door openings. A staircase housed inside the masonry led to the halls on the upper floor.
history
The castle was built between 1275 and 1280 in the lower town of Châlus by Géraud de Maulmont (also Maumont) - the adviser to the Vice Countess of Limoges Marguerite de Bourgogne . At that time the lands still belonged to Chalucet Castle .
At the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, the north-west tower and the main residence building were still intact, but they were badly damaged between 1794 and 1799 by the residents of Châlus, who used the castle as a quarry. The remaining part of the castle was used as a prison until 1820. In the same year it was returned to the Count of Bourbon Busset (whose younger branch line is Bourbon-Châlus).
In 1888, at the request of the Count of Châlus, the archaeologist and architect Jules Tixier subjected the castle complex to a rigorous examination, as there was already a serious risk of collapse at that time. In 1928 the neglected roof structure collapsed on the main building. On March 20, 1994, the catastrophic collapse of the remaining southeast tower occurred. The tower was 27.6 meters high and 8.70 meters in diameter, with a wall thickness of 2.50 meters. The debris buried two adjacent inhabited houses, a barn and some vehicles - but miraculously nobody was harmed.
With financial help from the Duplessi brewery (and its Chevalier de Maulmont brand ), the restoration of the castle began in 2005. There are also now plans to integrate Châlus-Maulmont Castle into a culinary district.
The castle has been registered as a Monument historique since March 25, 1981 and is therefore a listed building.
literature
- Roger Boudrie: Le château de Châlus-Maulmont (Châlus, 87) . Société d'études historiques et archéologiques de la moyenne Corrèze, Tulle, France 1961.
- Paul Patier: Histoire de Châlus et de sa région . In: Res Universis . 1993, ISBN 2-7428-0184-7 .
