Fougeres sur Bievre

This chateau was built in the late 15th century into the early 16th century. Interestingly, it was not built for defense or to be a play house for the rich but was built to impress the regional Lord and also the king of France. There are 3 types of towers, square, round and octagonal. The square towers were usually built before the 11th century and the round towers later. I have never seen an octagonal tower in Europe. It was built during a time of peace and was never attacked. Water is provided by a small dam which raises the water level of a small canal high enough to enter the chateau on one side and exit the other at a lower level.

(Click on each photo to get the full-sized image)

Exterior of the Chateau.

Large round tower.

Large square tower.

Entrance to the main courtyard.

View to the right showing the round tower attached to the external square tower.

View to the right of the previous photo showing the strange octagonal tower.

This is a staircase opening into a living area on the next floor.

Upper level living area.

The wooden construction of a typical roof of a castle is shown here. Slate or wood was used for the shingles.