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The Chatelet in the 16th century.
Before the 16th century, we only know of Châtelet its successive owners. Around 1520, a nobleman, René Gallebrun, settled in Châtelet. He had the Châtelet built or rebuilt on an ancient medieval mound as it appears to us today. Its architecture is inspired by Renaissance motifs – notably shells and pilasters – but is still linked to the end of the Middle Ages with its fire hydrants, the grooves of the drawbridge, its moats, etc.
The chapel, the oldest part, rests under a ribbed vault decorated with the coat of arms of René Gallebrun: a lion crowned with 5 roses. At the time of René Gallebrun, there was also a windmill, to grind flour for the Château's kitchen, as well as a half-timbered building.
The Chatelet in the 19th and 20th centuries
Balzac probably knew the castle since he mentions, in Les Illusions perdues, a certain Madame du Châtelet. In addition, Saché is only a few kilometers away. During the Second World War, the Châtelet welcomed Loys Masson, poet of the Resistance and friend of Louis Aragon. Loys Masson hid there for more than a year, in 1943-1944, supplied by the Siroteau family living on the Château farm.
He wrote a book there, La Douve, in which he recounts in a fictionalized manner his life at Châtelet. And for the record, François de Lannoy, father of the current owner, had kept Loys Masson's camp bed.
The Chatelet Today
In the same family for 300 years, this castle, built in 1520, has not undergone any transformation since its construction, which earned it a Historic Monument in 1962.
In 2006, when my father died, we decided to undertake a long restoration campaign. After 8 years of work, most of which was carried out by ourselves, the restored Châtelet now welcomes tourists and lovers of beautiful stones for the night. There, time seems to have stopped...
The Chatelet opens its doors during the Journées européennes du Patrimoine
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