France · 16th century
The Château des Ducs de Joyeuse is a castle in the commune of Couiza in the Aude département of France.
Originally built for the Dukes of Joyeuse in the mid-16th century, the castle is now used as a hotel. The well-preserved building, flanked by round towers, is regarded as typical of many buildings in the Languedoc and Cévennes regions. A pitted rustic work doorway leads to the austere Renaissance courtyard. The chapel is dated to the François 1er period, the rest of the castle is in the Henri II style. Every room of the house contains a French-style ceiling.
It has been listed since 1913 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
Text adapted from “Château des Ducs de Joyeuse” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Château des Ducs de Joyeuse ranks #7,355 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #683 of the 793 mapped in France. Founded c. 1550, it is older than 37% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Perpignan, 59 km away. It is one of the 23 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Cathar Country. It is stop 4 of 18 on the Cathar castle route, Carcassonne to Foix. See how France compares in the castle statistics.
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