Château de Montgeoffroy

The Château de Montgeoffroy (French pronunciation: [ʃato də mɔ̃ʒɔfʁwa]) is an 18th-century manor house located in the commune of Mazé (Maine-et-Loire), France.

In 1676, Érasme de Contades acquired the property. In 1772, Marshal Louis Georges Érasme de Contades, governor of Alsace, decided to rebuild the château as a retirement home. He called on the Parisian architect Jean-Benoît-Vincent Barré, who worked with the local architect Simier.

The marshal being far from Anjou, the work was directed primarily by his son, le marquis de Contades, his daughter-in-law, Julie Constantin de Marans, his mistress, Hélène Hérault, and her daughter-in-law, Marie-Marguerite Magon de La Lande. It took three years.

The old château was burned down, but Barré appreciated its U shape and kept two towers and the moat, as well as the chapel, which dated from 1543.

The building miraculously survived the French Revolution and the Revolt in the Vendée conserving its common buildings, agricultural structures, chapel, and park. It also kept its archives and its furniture, which was studied by Pierre Verlet.

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

Château de Montgeoffroy ranks #2,944 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #223 of the 469 mapped in France. Founded c. 1750, it is older than 17% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 525 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,077 times in the last 60 days, more than 50% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Angers, 21 km away. It is one of the 58 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Loire Valley. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗