Château de Boulogne
Description
The pretty Boulogne Valley, with its undulating landscape, conceals the ruins of a fortified castle built between the 13th and 16th centuries. The main keep, now largely in ruins, was an imposing structure. The outer wall, which is in better condition, is of a respectable size.
The ruins of Boulogne Castle were listed as a historic monument on 17 July 1915 under the criteria of the new law enacted in 1913, which no longer required the site to be of national interest, but rather of public interest “from a historical and artistic point of view”.
The seigneury of Boulogne Castle is thought to have been part of the possessions of the House of Poitiers from as early as the 12th century. The structures built onto the main building and the chapel, as well as the upper part of the keep, probably date from the 13th and 14th centuries. Large stables with outbuildings, known as the ‘Renaissance pavilion’, and an entrance gatehouse with two watchtowers were added to the medieval castle in the second half of the 14th century. Spared by the Wars of Religion and the Revolution, the castle was stripped of its materials in the early 19th century by a resident of a neighbouring village.
In 1979, a section of the curtain wall collapsed, blocking the village road and partially crushing a property situated below; the condition of the ruins was sufficiently alarming to prompt plans for a major consolidation of the site. In the early 1980s, the new owners purchased the castle and appealed to the public authorities to halt the process of deterioration.
In 1983, heavy rainfall caused another collapse; the site became too dangerous and it was decided to close it to the public. A major programme of works was undertaken, including the stabilisation of the towers and the repair of the main building’s wall and the western boundary wall. Finally, the conversion of the ‘Renaissance Pavilion’ into a holiday home was carried out in the 1990s. Maintenance work on the masonry is carried out regularly.
The site is exceptionally open to the public for one-off events (concerts, festivals, film screenings, shows, etc.), as well as during European Heritage Days every September.