Donjon de Bours, Bours, France

Château or Donjon de Bours was most likely built in the 12th century by Hugues de Bours. Originally it would have had a bailey defended by a crenellated wall guarding several outbuildings. Both the bailey and the castle would have been moated. At present all traces of the bailey are gone.

Bours Castle is a keep built out of sandstone and has a rectangular plan with six corbelled turrets. It has walls of 70 cm thick and 2 floors. It is generally assumed that during the mid-13th century the keep would have been higher.

During the first half of the 15th century the castle was owned by Maillotins de Bours who restored and enlarged the castle but probably did not change the keep.

In 1543 Bours Castle was burned down.

At the beginning of the 20th century there was talk of demolishing the keep but luckily that did not happen. During the second half of the 20th century the keep was restored several times and used as a town hall.

References:

castles.nl

User Reviews

Veronique meeunes (4 years ago)
Un très bel endroit à découvrir, un accueil agréable, une visite adaptée aux plus jeunes, des animations... Je recommande.

Marie Pruvost (4 years ago)
Nice visit with a friendly guide who explains well and a nice exchange. Interesting site steeped in history. A booklet given to children to fill in during the visit.

brigitte payen (4 years ago)
Joli Village très beau. Château ?

Vi P (4 years ago)
great visit after a wonderful hike very well marked around Bourse

Serge Jusczak (4 years ago)
Very good, the 15 km hiking circuit the keep is impeccable with a variant in the middle of the circuit.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus

The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

Donjon de Bours

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Church of St Donatus