En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château du Puy, about 1 km north-west of the village of Tercillat (Creuse), occupies a site mentioned as early as 1237, where a former Templar commandery stood until its destruction during the French Revolution. The present château was built in 1789 reusing the stones of this feudal building; still unfinished in 1894, it incorporates Templar elements (carved heads, a staircase, fireplaces, a stone bearing a Templar cross) as well as a medieval dovecote recorded by the DRAC of Limoges. Claude Amable de Beaufranchet owned it in 1816, before having the Château de Moisse built in the Creuse; the fief then passed to the Beaufranchet family and its descendants, the barons de Wildemberg. Acquired by Baron Bernard de Wildemberg in 1976, it was restored by the five grandchildren of the Comtesse de Maussion de Candé and opened to the public in 1989. The estate, which has received the Fondation du patrimoine label, covers twelve hectares including woodland, ponds, a park, a medieval farm, a bread oven, a revolutionary clock, vaulted cellars and fishponds. It holds a collection of 3,000 historical costumes and each year welcomes some 5,000 pupils on school trips, as well as shows (Perrault's tales, La Fontaine's fables) and events during the European Heritage Days.