Château de Combourg

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Château de Combourg

Château de Combourg is a medieval castle in the commune of Combourg in the Ille-et-Vilaine département of Brittany, France.[1] The castle stands on a small hill next to Lac Tranquille ("Lake Tranquil") in the town of Combourg.

History[]

The castle was built around 1025 by Guinguené, the Archbishop of Dol. He gave it to his illegitimate brother Riwallon, the first Lord of Combourg.[1]

The castle was made famous by François-René de Chateaubriand, the renowned French writer and politician, whose family had acquired the property in 1761, and it is where he spent part of his childhood.[1] From his descriptions of the castle, it has come to be considered "the birthplace of Romanticism". Chateaubriand wrote in his Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, "I became what I am in the woods of Combourg."

In 1876, Count Geoffroy de Chateaubriand, grandson of François-René's eldest brother (Jean-Baptiste de Chateaubriand), undertook its restoration. The project was led by a prominent French architect, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, whose other restorations included the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, the medieval city of Carcassonne, and the castles of Pierrefonds and Vincennes.

Privately owned, the castle is listed as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.[1]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Base Mérimée: Château de Combourg, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)

External links[]

Coordinates: 48°24′28″N 1°45′14″W / 48.40778°N 1.75389°W / 48.40778; -1.75389

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