Fact-checked
The châteaux of Normandy in the Index — 3 so far, each fact-checked against the historical record. Back to the map.
1196–1198 · Crusader-era military architecture
Richard the Lionheart's 'saucy castle', thrown up in barely two years on the chalk cliffs above the Seine to lock Philip Augustus out of Normandy — state-of-the-art military engineering fresh from the Crusades. It fell anyway, in 1204, after an epic siege; the ruin above Les Andelys is one of France's great medieval silhouettes.
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12th–13th centuries (keeps) · Anglo-Norman keep ensemble
Birthplace of William the Conqueror (c. 1027) and cradle of the Norman dynasty. The great square keeps raised by his descendants — kings of England — stand beside the round Talbot tower added when Philip Augustus took Normandy for France: the whole Anglo-Norman story in three towers.
Full profile →18th–19th centuries (estate origins older) · Normandy country château
Abandoned for forty years near Alençon until a family from north-east England bought it in 2020 and set about waking it — the Escape To The Dream channel chronicles the work, and the château now welcomes its first guests. Twenty-one acres, a cottage, and a second life.
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