En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château de Charron, at the mouth of the Sèvre Niortaise in Charente-Maritime, was built around 1150 on the orders of the King of England, then Duke of Aquitaine, and rebuilt at the end of the 14th century under Edward III. The lordship passed through several noble families before being acquired by exchange by Charles of Anjou in 1456, then by the Bouhier family from 1591. Damaged during the Wars of Religion — "walls much battered, the flanks removed, the moat almost filled in", according to the chronicler La Popelinière — the residence was rebuilt by Vincent Bouhier at the end of the 16th century, its eastern façade bearing the date 1596; 38 metres long, it comprises three towers (a round one to the south-west, a square one to the north and an octagonal one to the north-east) and a main doorway with rich Renaissance decoration adorned with Ionic columns, pediments, volutes, masks and carved drapery. After 1837 the Daughters of the Cross converted the site into a charitable and educational institution; since 1956 it has operated as a home for the elderly and, since 2016, has also housed a hotel-restaurant.