France · 12th century
Château de Bazoches ranks #3,207 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #244 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded 1180, it is older than 78% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 763 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,131 times in the last 60 days, more than 71% of the atlas. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
The Château de Bazoches is located in Bazoches, the modern region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, historically part of the Burgundy region of France.
The original castle was built by Jean de Saillenay in 1180, on the site of a Roman outpost guarding the road between Autun and the administrative centre of Gallia Lugdunensis, now Sens. The design was a standard trapezoidal layout, with four towers and a keep surrounding an inner courtyard, upgraded in the 14th century.
It was sold to Jean de Bazoches in 1284 and successively owned by the Chastellux, Montmorillon and La Perrière families. In 1570, Jacques Le Prestre de Vauban acquired it when he married Françoise de la Perrière, an illegitimate daughter of the Count de Bazoches.
In 1675, Jacques Le Prestre's grandson, the military engineer Vauban, purchased the property from his cousin with money awarded by Louis XIV for his role in the capture of Maastricht in 1673, and it was extensively upgraded.
Today it is private property and classified as a listed Historic building.
Text adapted from “Château de Bazoches” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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