Château de Balanzac

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Balanzac, in Charente-Maritime, dates in part from the early 16th century. Jeanne d'Ars, lady of Balanzac, married Guillaume de Brémond in 1336; in 1652, the building, being sufficiently fortified, served as a refuge for the local population. The roofs were partially altered after 1703. The main residence (logis) features, at its four corners, bartizans supported by massive buttresses — one of which served as a dovecote —, openings with triangular pediments, a polygonal stair tower with a pyramidal roof on the south façade, and a covered well topped by a stone cupola in the centre of the courtyard. The façades and roofs are listed as historic monuments, a protection later extended to the ground, the enclosure wall with its towers and chapel, the well, the outbuildings, the gallery and its wood panelling.