Saint-Hubert: five castles that tell the story of royal hunting and venery, from Montpoupon to Folembray

On 3 November, Saint-Hubert Day commemorates the patron saint of hunters, the Bishop of Liège who died in 727. Beyond the practice itself—now widely debated—hunting has left an indelible mark on French castle heritage: kings built palaces for stag hunting, families adorned their walls with stag antlers, and hunting parties sustained entire estates until the eve of the Second World War. Five sites trace this legacy, from the vanished royal palace in Aisne to the Touraine museum dedicated to venery, via the Rambouillet forest where a duchess led her pack for half a century.