The Château de Thillombois is a Renaissance château significantly remodeled in the 19th century. The original château dates from the 12th century. Its size at the time was much larger than the current one that stands today. It was one of the largest medieval domains of the area, owned by a French noble family who also possessed, among others, the Château de Jarny, located in what is now known as Jarny in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. Heavily damaged in the 17th century during the Thirty years War, the château managed to retain a tower and a wing, while the surrounding villages were pillaged by Croats. restored by successive generations, emptied of all of its goods during the Reign of Terror, the castle found a new life in the 19th century when the heiress of the estate, the Countess d'Oryot-Apremont, married the Count of Nettancourt-Vaubécourt which then allowed a sufficient capital contribution to add a new main building and to restore the existing rooms around 1873.
The château remained within the Nettancourt-Vaubécourt family until 1961, where it was then acquired by the commune of Mantes-la-Ville into a summer camp center. The center fell into disuse in the 1980s. It was left to fate, until it was rented in the early 1990s by the Connaissance de la Meuse cultural association, who continued to make renovations and improvements. In 2010 the association became the official owner so that the château could remain in the public domain.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.