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Château de Beaumesnil

France · 17th century

Founded
1633
Style
Baroque architecture
Heritage status
monument historique inscrit · classified historical monument
Location
Mesnil-en-Ouche
Coordinates
49.01389°, 0.71139°
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Château de Beaumesnil in France
Photo: PHILDIC · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Château de Beaumesnil is a 17th-century Louis XIII baroque style château located in the commune of and close to the village of Beaumesnil in Eure department of Normandy in northern France. The château, now an official historical monument of France, is surrounded by a moat, having been built on the site of a medieval castle of the same name.

The château, which is an official historical monument of France, is located on a 60 hectare estate to the north-east of the village of Beaumesnil, 140 km west of Paris and midway between the towns of Lisieux and Évreux. A large proportion of the estate is woodland, but in traditional French formal style an east–west axis contains the château, its forecourt and moat at the western end while the central and eastern part of the axis are laid to grass.

The château, one of France's smaller châteaus, designed and built by John Gallard during the reign of Louis XIII between 1633 and 1640, is constructed of stone and brick walls with a slate roof on the ruins of the motte-and-bailey castle that had stood on the site since medieval times. The east and west facades are heavily decorated with carvings — windows have grotesque masks inspired by the Commedia dell'arte, intertwined letters "M" and "D" allude to Marie Dauvet Des Marets, wife of Jacques, Marquis of Nonant and daughter Nicolas Brûlart de Sillery, Chancellor of France while the shields of the Montmorency-Laval branch of the Laval family appear above the main doorways.

The north and south pavilions were added to the building during the eighteenth century. The donjon (keep) that was built on a mound to the south of the site was converted into an icehouse. The mound is now covered with a boxwood maze. The château and forecourt were built on the bailey with the forecourt. A footbridge provides access to the château from the east and a vehicular bridge provides access to the forecourt and château from the west. Another footbridge connects the forecourt with the motte.

The eastern side of the château overlooks a parterre laid to lawn with woodland on either side. In the 18th century, wings were added to both the northern and southern ends of the château. The "state" rooms — the library, the drawing room, the dining room, the mistress' apartment are on the first floor and are accessed using the grand staircase.

Text adapted from “Château de Beaumesnil” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Château de Beaumesnil ranks #3,188 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #243 of the 787 mapped in France. Founded 1633, it is older than 28% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 710 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,176 times in the last 60 days, more than 71% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Évreux, 32 km away. It is one of the 33 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Normandy. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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