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he Château de Brantes is an 18th-century manor house with a contemporary garden inspired by the gardens of Tuscany, located in the town of Sorgues. The gardens are classified by the French Ministry of Culture among the Remarkable Gardens of France.
The garden, 1.1 hectares in area, is enclosed by a wall of stones. It features a Magnolia grandiflora tree that is 200 years old, one of the oldest in Europe, Lagerstroemia trees a hundred years old, and a plantation of plane trees dating to 1816. Flowers include plantings of peony, rose, agapanthia and althea.
The house was built in 1700 by Pierre del Bianco, the marquis de Brantes, the paymaster for the soldiers of the papal state of Avignon. It was enlarged in 1816 by General de Cessac, a minister of Emperor Napoleon I, and by his wife Sibylle de Brantes, who created the park. The park was restored and the contemporary garden begun in 1956 by Louis and Madelaine de Brantes, the parents of the current owner of the chateau.
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.