It all begins in 950, when Thibaud the Trickster, Count of Blois, Chartres and Châteaudun, commissioned a knight from his entourage to monitor the Perche, a small territory on the border between his vast county and the imposing Duchy of Normandy. Rotrou I volunteered and built a first wooden tower in Nogent overlooking the Huisne valley.
His grandson, Geoffrey III, expanded the site in the 11th century. by building a powerful quadrangular keep 30 meters highEnclosed by an impenetrable stone wall, the castle embodies all the power and wealth of this family. A true residence, it possesses all the comforts of the time; excavations have confirmed the presence of latrines and fireplaces on each floor! At the beginning of the 13th century, Enguerran de Coucy completed the complex by adding seven defensive towers pierced with arrow slits.
During the Hundred Years' War, the The castle of the Counts of Perche was the scene of numerous sieges The most disastrous of these was undoubtedly the attack by English troops led by Thomas of Salisbury in 1428. This left the keep badly damaged by a thick breach. Open to the elements, it then fell victim to a fire which led to its abandonment.
In the 1460s, the main building was remodeled by Charles IV of Anjou. Further maintenance work was subsequently carried out by the Bourbon-Condé family and by the family of the famous Sully, to whom the castle passed in 1624.
During the Revolution, the monument was seized and transformed into a prison before being bought back in the 19th century by various owners with varying degrees of respect for the site. In the 1840s, the mayor of the town, Œillet des Murs, undertook the first restoration of the "English Breach"; this was continued by the Jousset de Belleme couple who embarked on a vast archaeological excavation project starting in 1885.
Finally, the The castle was acquired by the town hall in 1950Today, it is the Museum of the History of Perche. presents visitors with the history of the castle, the town of Nogent-le-Rotrou and its region, from the Middle Ages to the RevolutionA second space showcases the various local artists who have brought renown to the Perche region in France or internationally.
- Continue your exploration of the Loire Valley with the circuit A great weekend between Mayenne, Sarthe and Eure-et-Loir which includes the Museum of the History of Perche.
