The château de Pierrefonds

The château de pierrefonds

Rare are the chateaux that have fallen into ruin and been brought back to life with the wave of a magic wand. Such, however, is the story of Pierrefonds, in the Oise region, which was born twice. Equipped with the latest advances in military technology, the original chateau (c. 1400) was also an elegant palace, the residence of the man who had it built : the powerful Louis d'Orléans, duke of Valois and brother of Charles VI, the mad king. Constructed during a respite in the Hundred Years War, the redoubtable fortress came through the civil war between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians pretty well.

It was a different matter altogether during the follies of the Wars of Religion and the Catholic League's opposition to the monarchy. Infuriated, Cardinal Richelieu laid siege to Pierrefonds, demolishing the citadel so that it could no longer be put to military use. For two-and-a-half centuries, the majestic ruins languished in the obscurity of oblivion.