Château de Kerjean is a 16th-century fortified
chateau (
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
) located close to the town of
Saint-Vougay, in the
Finistère
Finistère (, ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. Its prefecture is Quimper and its largest city is Brest, France, Brest. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.[Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...]
, France.
It was originally built for members of the Barbier family (later titled as
Marquis
A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wido ...
de Kerjean) between the 1540s and 1590s.
The chateau was damaged in the 1790s during the
French Revolution, and fell into further disrepair during the 19th century.
The building was taken into state care in 1911 and restored in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Standing in a 20-hectare park, the house, park and some out-lying structures (including a large
dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...
) are open to the public.
History
Finistère was a thriving agricultural area in the 16th century, and the Barbier family built a fortified house on their estate lands close to
Saint-Vougay. The building followed contemporary fashions and included elements of
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...
of the house itself, with a slightly less common
bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
ed and
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
d external defensive wall.
The manor house was the hub of an active agricultural estate for several centuries, before becoming somewhat neglected during the 17th century.
Following a marriage between the Barbier and Coatanscour families, the estate and house experienced some growth in the 18th century.
However, during the
French Revolution, the Marquise de Coatanscour was arrested,
imprisoned and guillotined in
Brest, and the estate and chateau forfeited to the republic.
Serving as a military garrison after the Revolution, during which time the building fell into significant disrepair, the house was sold to the Brilhac family in 1802. Several damaged sections of the house were further dismantled in this period – with lead and stone sold as building material – before the Forsanz-Coatgoureden family took control.
In 1911 the French state bought the chateau,
classified the site as a
historic monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
, and from the 1980s to the early 2000s restored the house and surrounds.
Gallery
File:Château de Kerjean 1 vue générale.JPG, Frontage
File:Château de Kerjean 7 Cour intérieure et entrée vus du logis seigneurial.JPG, Courtyard, entrance and chapel
File:Château de Kerjean 5 Cour intérieure façades angle nord-est.JPG, Courtyard looking north-east
File:Château de Kerjean, face nord..JPG, North face
File:Saint-Vougay (29) Château de Kerjean Colombier 02.JPG, Dovecote
File:Ditch and external fortifications.jpg, Ditch and external fortifications
File:Well-preserved corner tower.jpg, Corner tower
File:External gate.jpg, External gate
File:Château de Kerjean 1994.jpg, Château de Kerjean 1994
See also
*
List of castles in Brittany
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau de Kerjean
Houses completed in the 16th century
Kerjean
Renaissance architecture in France
Kerjean