Château de Colombières, Colombières, France

Château de Colombières dates back to the 11th century. It was a fortress occupied by William, Raoul and Baudouin of Colombières, comrades in arms of William the Conqueror during the invasion of England in 1066. However the oldest parts of the present castle date back to the end of the 14th century. The wealthy Bacon du Molay built the fortress with the defensive architecture: a quadrangle flanked by four huge towers with arrow slits, a 9ft-thick and 36ft-high surrounding wall topped with a machicolation floor (a gallery with openings in the floor, through which stones or burning objects could be droppers on attackers), a moat and a drawbridge.

At the end of Hundred Years War (1328-1453), the battle of Formigny in 1450 ushered in a period of peace. Two elegant Renaissance towers were added to the castle by this family who owned Colombières fief for three centuries. During the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) fighting resumed. In 1562, the lord and master of Colombières, François de Bricqueville, one of the most dangerous protestant leaders of Lower Normandy is unfortunately remembered for plundering Bayeux Cathedral’s treasure and burning many precious items and books. He then laid siege to the town of Saint-Lô, took the Lord Bishop prisoner and desecrated the chapel of Colombières.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the fortress underwent several architectural changes in order to make the main building more comfortable: the surrounding wall was demolished on one side, one of the towers which had been partially destroyed was rebuilt as a square-shaped donjon, the windows were enlarged, the chapel desecrated by François de Bricqueville was rebuilt by his grandson Cyrus Antoine, who converted to Catholicism in 1678. In 1759, the fortified castle became the property of the Girardin family, related by marriage to the present owners, the Maupeou d’Ableiges family. During this period the fortress was then transformed along classical lines into a beautiful residence.

Today Château de Colombières is a hotel. Also guided tours are available.

References:

Château de Colombières Official

User Reviews

Bart Mayen (5 months ago)
Too bad the castle was closed and only open on limited occasions. Unfortunately we were not able to visit the castle at a later time

Christian Hayward (2 years ago)
This castle was recommended to me as being quite interesting to visit. So off I went, driving for about one hour, mostly through narrow country lanes. I arrived at the front gates at 10:45, only to be met by notices saying that the castle was closed – it would open at 14:00 hours. Not being able to stay till opening time, I decided to drive up the drive-way and at least view the castle from the outside and maybe take a picture of it. No sooner had I driven half way up, when a man with the airs of being the owner, started shouting at me as if he were possessed. He shouted things like “ you have no respect, I have put two notices and yet you have disrespected me, what don’t you understand about the castle being closed”. He repeated these phases all the louder at least twice. He is the one with no respect at all, because, if he had let me reply to his accusations, I would have explained that “yes I can see that your castle (the building itself) is closed and visiting it is not possible, but thought that it was ok to drive in and get a photo”. I definitely advise any prospective visitor to keep well away!

Rick Carpenter (3 years ago)
My daughters loved spending 2 nights in the castle. They did not want to leave. The especially enjoyed the special attention they received each morning at breakfast. They are still talking about the hot chocolate and croissants.

Cécile Gurtner (4 years ago)
We booked a room for two nights on their website where it showed that there still are availabilities. Also it says that they reply within 24 hours but they didn't even deem it necessary to update the website or give us a reply of any sort that the reservation didn't work and they were in fact (contrary to what their website said) fully booked. Poor customer service.

Laeti26 (5 years ago)
I gave this castle a good rating because it is superb. On the other hand, the visit was a bit brief because we only had access to the garden and 2 rooms of the castle. Otherwise the owner was friendly and so was the guide.

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Because the region was located on the route of the Camino de Santiago, many monasteries and churches were built during the Middle Ages, and in 1199, while under Plantagenet rule, the town was granted full rights.

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