Château de Combourg is a medieval castle in the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Combourg in the

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The castle stands on a small hill next to Lac Tranquille ("Lake Tranquil") in the town of Combourg.

History

The castle was built around 1025 by Guinguené, the Archbishop of Dol. He gave it to his illegitimate brother Riwallon, the first

Lord of Combourg The Lordship of Combourg, after 1575 the County of Combourg, was a barony centred on Combourg in the east of the Duchy of Brittany in France during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The lordship was created by Junguené, bishop of Dol ...

. The castle was made famous by

François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who had a notable influence on French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocrati ...

, the renowned French writer and politician, whose family had acquired the property in 1761, and it is where he spent part of his childhood. From his descriptions of the castle, it has come to be considered "the birthplace of Romanticism". Chateaubriand wrote in his ''Memoirs from Beyond the Grave'', "I became what I am in the woods of Combourg." In 1876, Count Geoffroy de Chateaubriand, grandson of François-René's eldest brother (Jean-Baptiste de Chateaubriand), undertook its restoration. The project was led by a prominent French architect,

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. H ...

, whose other restorations included the cathedral of

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

, the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, the medieval city of Carcassonne, and the castles of Pierrefonds and

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...

. Privately owned, the castle is listed as a '' monument historique'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...

References

External links

Château de Combourg website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Combourg, Chateau de Castles in Brittany Monuments historiques of Ille-et-Vilaine Historic house museums in Brittany Museums in Ille-et-Vilaine Maisons des Illustres

History

See also

References

External links