Château de Gouzon

The origins of the Château de Gouzon stretch far back: Beneath the current keep, foundations dating back to approximately 3,500 BC were discovered during renovation work in the late 20th century. The keep itself was built in two main phases. An initial, almost square tower, measuring about 12x12 meters and nearly 12 meters high, was erected in the 12th century. In the 13th century, presumably under the de Gouzon family, who gave the castle its name, an expansion took place. The tower was enlarged to approximately 13x20 meters and reached a height of around 17 meters. A feature is the change in the external buttresses from angular to curvilinear. Around 1350, the castle passed into the possession of the Bishops of Poitiers. An inspection in 1687 confirmed the castle's state as a ruin. At the end of the 19th century, the Château was classified as a “Monument historique,” and in the 1990s, extensive restoration was carried out.