De Chevreuse à Dourdan : les trésors du Hurepoix médiéval | Trésors du Patrimoine

De Chevreuse à Dourdan : les trésors du Hurepoix médiéval | Trésors du Patrimoine

Southwest of Paris,
straddling the departments of Essonne and Yvelines, there is a country
whose very name evokes the Middle Ages. This is the mysterious land of Hurepoix. Today it houses the
natural park of the upper Chevreuse valley, forming a group of woods
carved by several rivers. Its territory alternates between forest massifs,
agricultural plateaus, star-shaped hills, steep valleys and vast meadows. These landscapes offer a
remarkable array of historical sites marked since the Middle Ages by the presence
of influential lords. Over the centuries, these great families,
sometimes allied with, sometimes hostile to the Crown,
divided the lands among themselves, bequeathing them an exceptional cultural heritage. Castles, manor houses and parks are all
testimonies to this rich and tumultuous past. Among them are the imposing remains
of the Madeleine, the medieval fortress of Dourdan, the elegant castle of Breteuil
and the picturesque estate of Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard. Durepoix is ​​an entity which is roughly limited to a plateau characterized by a millstone base on which there are
not really many possibilities for establishing a strong culture. So, these are areas that have
remained forested for quite some time. These forest areas are of
major importance, whether for construction,
defense, the supply of coal
for metallurgical industries or wood, for everything related to glassmaking. Afterwards, it does not appear as such
in the delimitations, for example of bishoprics or dioceses. We are in a sector which, really, is more of
a geographical entity than a true political entity. The outlines of the Hurepoix territory
became clearer over the centuries. Today, bordered by the Seine to the north
and east, by orge to the southeast and by the Rambouillet forest to the west,
it is surrounded by the shelter, the Gattinet and the Bosse. Its capital was located in Dourdan,
where pottery, dye works and fulling mills developed. The origin of the word, L,
remains unknown. The term appeared in the 13th century. It could come from erupe,
meaning bristly, from the name given to the people of ancient
Neustria because of their opposition to Charlemagne. Another etymological hypothesis:
Hurepoix would refer to Auropia, barley in Latin,
and would therefore be the land of barley. In our regions, what will unite,
what will create population centers, what will attract populations that,
initially, are rather dispersed. We are dealing with loosely structured
occupation patterns with small population centers. In fact, it is essentially
the religious centers, the churches, that will create land contexts
that will make people come to live around them, both because they are
community hubs, both the place of worship,
the place where the dead are counted, and then with the cemetery. Furthermore, the church itself
creates around it a specific land type that will
promote the development of urban centers. In these lands, the arrival of lords
stems from the growth of settlements. They establish themselves near towns
and villages in strategic locations, most
often on high points, in order to control traffic routes. This is the case of the medieval castle
of La Madeleine, which proudly overlooks the Livet valley
and the present-day town of Chevreuse. The first traces of a village
at this location date back to the 10th century. The village takes its name from the Latin caverosa,
meaning goat, in reference to the abundance of goats
in the region and the tanning activities for which the town
specialized. We have the presence of a lord
who appears in some texts around the 11th century, in the second
half of the 11th century. At that time, there was
probably still a defensive wooden system all around,
with a ditch system. The site was petrified
in the second half of the 12th century, between 1160 and 1180. A large ditch was found blocking what
corresponds to the current upper courtyard of the site, in which ceramic furniture was found
that corresponds well to this second half of the 12th century,
and therefore shows that the wall was built by filling in the ditch,
and this first wall was built at that time. In the 13th century, the
site plan was divided in two. The upper courtyard, reserved for the lord,
corresponds to the part currently open to visitors. The farmyard, sold off in parcels during
the Revolution, is now privately owned. The castle inherited its name from the
private chapel dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, located in the lower courtyard, which no longer exists
. The Hundred Years’ War would hasten
the defense of the site. The new lord, Pierre de Chevreuse,
was charged by the king not only with strengthening
the fortifications of the castle, but also with
fortifying the town. A wall was then built starting from
the castle to encircle the entire city. The gatehouse that is behind me is not at
all the gatehouse that was there at the time. The most accomplished gatehouse dates from the late
14th, early 15th century, under the impetus of Pierre de Chevreuse,
during the major militarization of the castle. At that time,
there was probably a harrow, a lifting system of which
nothing remains today. And what is quite interesting,
at the level of the Château de la Madeleine, is that we had a castle which was
half protected by a water-filled moat, so which came up here with
a drawbridge which spanned this water-filled moat and which went around the castle for about
half of its circumference. The most important works undertaken
at this time consisted of reinforcing the north facade of the upper courtyard
and remodeling the two towers. The castle will become a true
urban citadel ready to house a royal garrison. The northern part of the castle
truly reflects the transformation of the site from the second half of the 14th
century, from a lordly residence to a true urban citadel. The two towers,
the Guards Tower and the Charles V Tower, twin towers of sorts, were
probably built on ancient fortifications that
used the same base. Then there was the Guards’ Tower,
four levels with several fireplaces inside,
a stair tower that allowed access to these different levels. And then, a somewhat later addition
with this small square building in which there were latrines
heated directly by the chimneys which are present inside
the guard tower, which allows us to extrapolate a little
on a certain residential function, despite everything, of this guard tower. The two towers are linked together
by the walkway, the curtain wall, which was probably equipped with
hoardings, so these wooden elements which today, obviously,
are no longer there, but which probably allowed to make a roof,
some projections above the moat and which had a defensive role. This defensive role of this part
of the castle, complemented by the machicolations that we see here. So, these openings allowed
a number of objects to be launched at the attackers. Machicolation is from Old French,
it’s maché column in Latin. So, chewed, it’s crushed,
attack the collar, therefore the neck. We note that the staircase which,
given on this walkway, does not start at ground level at all,
which also allows us to extrapolate on the presence of wooden elements
to reach this staircase, which could be either pulled
upwards or lowered, and which obviously provided
another defensive function by preventing potential assailants from
easily climbing onto the Rhône path. In contrast, the Charles V tower
here is much more residential in function. We can clearly see here with the openings
on the sides, the windows, all the holes in the walls
which accommodated ceilings or roofs and which, in this case,
with the addition of chimneys, truly attest
to the residential function of this Charles V tower. Archaeological research allows us
to affirm that the interior of the keep is particularly sumptuous and entirely
painted in colors, as was often the case in the Middle Ages. At that time, the dungeon was
taller and longer than it is today. It has one floor and two
additional bays that were demolished in the 17th century to secure the building, which was
built on sloping ground. At the beginning of the 15th century,
the civil war between the houses of Burgundy and Armagnac would drastically
alter the fate of the castle. The lord of Chevreuse,
long a supporter of the king of France, changed sides in 1417 to join
the Anglo-Burgundian party. The castle is therefore occupied
by an English garrison. The village, however,
remains in the hands of the French army. For 20 years,
between the castle and the village, it was a no man’s land where they were
constantly shooting at each other. So, you have to understand that we
are in a war zone. We are really in an area where we know
that, for example, the village population will decrease very sharply
at that time. Once the English were driven out of
the castle by the French Army, it must be understood that the site was
heavily ruined. We will find a number
of dumps in which we have a lot of archaeological furniture,
which we call crossbow bolts, which are the iron points that are
put on the end of crossbow arrows. That allowed us to properly establish and
understand the chronology of these events. The garrison eventually surrendered
to the army of King Charles VII in 1438. The parish then numbered only
about thirty souls. With the king’s help, Nicolas de Chevreuse
restored the stronghold. This is the final phase
of work on the fortress. The gatehouse was rebuilt,
the walls were raised again, and the two rectangular towers located to the
south, on the side of the valley and the village, were erected. As a reward, the seigneury
was raised to a barony around 1460. This whole section
is the latest part of the construction of the Château
de la Madeleine, therefore dating from the second half of the 15th century. At the time,
the ramparts that enclosed the town of Chevreuse started from that tower,
the tower which is to the southeast of the castle, went around, and went up to
end right at the level of the Pauternes, which is to my left. And here we can see on this
southern part of the perimeter walls. The second type of machicolations
found within the castle are the machicolations
on arches that can be seen right there. This is already somewhat the end of the
site’s history, since at the end of the 15th century, the castle was resold,
and we can clearly see in the texts that we see a castle that is still
considered ruined, despite its renovations. Later,
it would house garrisons, as we know,
among other times during the Wars of Religion,
where we know that there was a garrison housed in the towers to the south
of the castle, and one of these towers would be burned down. Therefore, there must also have been fighting in Chevreuse
related to the religious wars. But these are really the last
military traces, let’s say, of occupation of the site. The Madeleine fortress would later
undergo several restoration campaigns. Around 1660,
the famous playwright Jean Racine, then training as foreman
of Port-Royal des Champs, supervised the restoration work on the keep. From his stay in the area,
there remains the Chemin Racine, a bucolic walk linking the
Port-Royal Abbey to the town center of Chevreuse. In 1981, the departmental council
acquired the fortress, which was then in ruins. From 1986 until the early 2000s,
major emergency and restoration work was carried out
to save this jewel of feudal architecture. The decision was then made to restore its
integrity and historical coherence by recreating its state in the 15th century. About twenty kilometers to the south,
another settlement developed during the Middle Ages: Dourdans. Famous for its pottery workshops
selling throughout the Paris basin, it became the capital of Hurepoix. Today, it houses one of the only
fortresses in Île-de-France to retain most of its defensive structures. The first mention of this castle dates
from 1222, where a charter from April 1222 stipulates the new castle,
right next to the church which has existed since the 12th century, therefore the church of
Saint-Germain-L’Auxeroy. It is not entirely clear why these two
monuments were placed so close together, but in any case, they are both at
the highest point in the city, therefore visible from any point of view
. At that time, the kingdom
of France was still very fragmented. King Philip Augustus embarked on
a major military construction program with the aim of consolidating his
power over the new territories he had just conquered, particularly
to protect himself from the English. He has 51 fortified castles to his credit. Dourdan is the last
fortified castle that will have built. This is what is known as
the Philippian system. This is the most
advanced plan in this system. He had the castle built
in Dourdan for several reasons. We are already on the border of the Kingdom
of France, so we protect the border, obviously. We are at a strategic point between Paris
and Chartres, where in fact, Chartres towards Paris is the wheat route. Therefore, this road needs to be protected. And above all,
it was the pottery trade, the trade during the 13th and 14th centuries. So, the city actually experienced an
economic boom at that time as well. Dordans Castle is one
of Philip Augustus’ castles, the best preserved, at least in Île-de-France. In fact, we can still appreciate
the plan and the defensive systems, which are still present. So, a plan of simple geometric shape,
a square, with corner towers in the corners, flanking towers,
in the middle of the curtain walls. All these towers are equipped with
loopholes facing in different directions to avoid,
of course, blind spots. We have the gatehouse,
with the two towers very close to each other, which will
overprotect the entrance to the castle. The castle is surrounded by a moat,
and so there is the base of the castle, which is called a scarp. There is the ditch and the wall, on the
street side today, which is called the counterscarp. And from the top of this counterscarp,
descended an earthen embankment called a glacis. And so, who were there
to protect the castle? The terms “murder holes” or “arrow slits” generally refer to
any type of firing opening. The term comes from the word archer,
the one who shot the bow. They already existed before
Philip Augustus, but these, called simple or Philippian arrow slits,
are characterized by a straight line. The keep has retained
all these elements from the 13th century and therefore, it was symbolic,
it represented royal power by virtue of its height and it was decentralized
from the rest of the castle. So, the king did not live there,
but he needed to be able to take refuge in case of attack. It could serve as a refuge tower. And so, inside,
we will find what we need to survive. We will notably have an oven with
a chimney, a chimney flue that heats the entire dungeon.
It goes all the way to the top. We’re going to have a well
and we’re going to have storage space in a cellar, storage space for food, wood, etc. There is approximately 8 meters of
ceiling height with a magnificent ribbed vault which ends
in what are called lamp bowls. The dungeon represents the center
of power for the domain. Here, it has the distinction of having its
own moat, in addition to the one that protects the castle. There is no water in the ditches. The barley bed that flows nearby
is too low to feed it. To reconstruct all this
architecture, we have the help, of course, of archaeology. We also have a
very important document which is the only one representing the castle before its
destruction, it is the Très Riches Heures of the Duke of Berry. This is a prayer book
made around 1410. In this prayer book there is
a calendar and each month of the year is represented by one of the
castles of the Duke of Berry. And we are lucky because he owned
the castle of Dourdan, and we were drawn in April. This is a really important document. This is really the only one we have of the castle,
and we were able to work in particular on the height,
and we know proportionally that the castle of Dourdan has lost two-
thirds of its height. So, in fact, you have to imagine that when you
arrive at this castle, the courtyard was rather dark. It’s a castle that isn’t very large
in area, but it was very tall. It was during the religious wars
that the castle lost two- thirds of its height. The fortress then belonged to the Duke
of Guise, leader of the Catholic League, who was fighting against the Protestant Party. But in 1591, it was besieged
by the troops of Henry IV. He orders an attack on the castle,
so he positions himself in front of and to the side of the castle and they fire cannons. And the castle will not withstand it. Since firearms did not exist in
the 13th century, the castle was bound to bear the brunt of the
gunfire, and therefore the roofs were destroyed. A large part
of the cortinas will collapse. And so,
Captain Jacques d’Argien’s garrison will retreat into the dungeon. And probably, because of a betrayal,
they will be trapped in the dungeon. The siege of 1591 deeply shook
the walls of the castle, which were two meters thick. The last breach, which
remained visible until 2010, was filled in during a restoration campaign. Henry IV’s troops also tried
to demolish a corner tower, without success. But a long crack
still bears witness to this undermining work. Deprived of its defensive attributes, the castle of Dourdan therefore loses its military function. The Crown remained the owner
of the premises until 1672. Philippe d’Orléans
then transformed it into a prison. Then, in 1743, the castle was
assigned new functions. An edict of King Louis XV
authorized the creation of granaries to facilitate the collection of saddles, a monopoly
of the king subject to the salt tax. A saddlery was then established
in the old fortified castle of Dourdan. It serves both as a warehouse
and as a court responsible for judging offenses related to the salt tax. For the construction of this building,
an old dwelling overlooking the rue de Chartres was destroyed, which corresponded
to the old stables of the de Guises. And then, the materials are reused
to build these two salt stores. So, salt was a
primary source of food. It was used for salting,
preserving food, and supplying retail food; the
territorial jurisdiction included 55 parishes. That is to say, it was the territory straddling
Chartres, Montfort-l’Amaury, Étampes and Dourdan. In areas known as high salt tax regions,
such as Dourdan, it is mandatory to obtain supplies
annually from a fixed location. The tax thus collected is a
considerable source of revenue for the Crown. The salt tax was abolished
just after the Revolution. The castle was then converted
into a departmental prison. It houses several hundred
common law prisoners, both men and women. In 1819, the Dukes of Orléans recovered the
castle, which became a municipal prison. The prisoners are placed in the dungeon
and guardrooms of the medieval castle. Even today,
moving accounts of their presence can still be found. In 1848, the castle, which now belonged to the State, was sold. It was bought four years
later by a prominent citizen of Dourdan. Amédée Guenet, who restored it and turned it into
an elegant bourgeois residence. Then, Joseph Guillaumeau
became the owner. The castle is the holiday home of
the Guillaumeau family, who live in Paris. He continued the renovations,
both inside and out, particularly in the neo-Gothic style. Joseph Guillaume is, in fact, the portrait
of the 19th-century humanist scholar. So, he comes from a family of
magistrates, a very cultured family. His father was also a poet,
and in fact, a whole series of adjectives could correspond
to Joseph Guyot’s personality and account for the multiplicity
of his interests. For example, he could be described as an
archaeologist, a collector, a historian,
but he was also a mediator of heritage, if we can use a
current term. He opened the castle to visitors
on weekdays, except for Sundays. And the castle serves as an application
for all this research. This history enthusiast published in
1868 a local monograph entitled Chronicles of the ancient royal town,
Dourdan, capital of Hurepoix. At the castle, he set about giving the facades
a pseudo-medieval style of molding, which would later be erased. While retaining the romantic aspect of the park,
it installed all modern comforts in the interior spaces,
in particular central heating, of which the museum still preserves
the very beautiful cast iron radiators. At the birth of his daughter in 1894, Joseph Guyot began a
photographic album dedicated to her. And this album preserves a number
of photographs, postcards, poems, early drawings, and notes. And this photograph shows the life
of the Guyot family in the castle. Elisabeth and her husband,
Viscount Léopold Gaillard de la Valdaine, are
unable to maintain the castle. They decided to sell it
as a life annuity in 1961. The private house would gradually be
transformed into a museum. Today it houses the
heritage collections of the former Hôtel-Dieu, in particular Regency furniture
from the Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, as well as paintings and prints. Joseph Guillaume’s room
has remained untouched. About twenty kilometers to the north, here is the castle of Breteuil, built on
a promontory overlooking the entire valley. Famous for its collection of
automaton dolls illustrating Perrault’s tales,
it is one of the most beautiful memories for several generations of children. Traces of the first lords
of Breteuil can be found dating back to the Middle Ages. But the site here, of the Château de Breteuil,
has been inhabited and built for much longer than that, since it is thought
that in Gallo-Roman times, there were two Gallo-Roman farms here
which were called villae. Bysvillae, for these two villas,
gave the name to the land of Bévilliers. Of the medieval fortress of Bévilliers,
razed in 1596, only the dovecote and the moat remain today. The first phase of construction
of the castle in its current form began in 1610. The lord’s residence was then entirely
enclosed by walls, surrounded by moats and consisted of five pavilions arranged
around the main courtyard. In 1712, the
Breteuil family inherited the castle. You know, the Château de Breteuil has been
in my family for 400 years. It is one of the few castles in France,
and even, I believe, in the world, that has always belonged to the same
family for so long. 400 years is a long time,
but it’s an important term for a castle because a
lot, a lot happens during its first 400 years. In four centuries,
the estate has been profoundly transformed. It was first Claude Stanislas,
fourth Marquis of Breteuil, who undertook a first phase
of work, paying particular attention to the gardens surrounding it. Claude Stanislas de Breteuil, who,
during the reign of Louis XV, considerably improved the comfort
and embellishment of the castle. He created new lounges,
new bedrooms. The walls on the main courtyard were taken down
to allow for open views of the gardens. Then, and then, the
last phase of expansion was at the end of the 19th century,
when Henri de Breteuil added wings extending back onto the main courtyard,
wings that can still be seen today. In the 19th century, gardens
also changed a great deal. It was at the end of the century that the Duchesnes,
Henri and Achille Duchesne, the two great landscape architects of the time,
redesigned and created French-style gardens as we
know them today. Previously, in the 18th and early 19th centuries,
there was an English-style park all around the castle. The Breteuil family includes many
illustrious figures. Among these remarkable figures,
there is a woman with a unique destiny. Gabrielle Émilie, née de Breteuil,
Marquise du Châtelet. So, and there were
many women, of course, in the castle, that’s lucky. The most famous woman,
who is truly someone recognized throughout the world, was
called Émilie de Breteuil Marquise du Châtelet, and she was a great lady of science. She was the first woman to
interpret Newton’s works. She wrote about the nature of fire;
she wrote a great deal. We couldn’t say everything here,
but she was a remarkable woman who worked enormously,
especially in physics and mathematics. And as Voltaire said,
if she had been a man, she would have been completely transfigured
as the most intelligent woman. A great friend and muse of Voltaire,
who would be her lover for 15 years, Gabrielle Émilie is considered
the first woman of science in our history. His work in mathematics
and physics continues to attract the attention of researchers
worldwide. His research contributed to the writing
of Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopedia, a very fine copy of which
is kept at the castle. His erudition earned him the nickname “the
light of Breteuil”. The light went out in 1749. The castle experienced two
periods of partial abandonment. Firstly, at the time
of the French Revolution. The owner of the castle at the time,
Charles de Breteuil, was a little boy who was only eight years old. Because he was a minor,
he was able to benefit from a revolutionary law that placed
the property of minor children under sequestration. The revolutionaries believed
that children were in no way responsible
for the country’s political situation and therefore should not have to suffer
the ills of the revolution. So, the castle was seized,
completely closed, and Charles de Breteuil was able to recover it in good condition,
at least not looted or burned, but in its… That is to say, it
was coming unglued. That was the first phase of
the castle falling into disuse, so at the very end of the 18th century. In the 19th century, Marquis Henri
de Breteuil took over the reins of the estate. An influential politician, he
profoundly marked the beginning of the 20th century. He notably participated in the creation
of the Entente Cordiale in 1904, which linked the fate of France to that of
England during the two world wars. In the 20th century, the castle began
its golden age, meaning that between 1900
and the First World War, all of Europe’s elite paraded here in Breteuil. There were great hunts,
balls, and several kings and queens of Europe came here. After the First World War
and the death of Henri de Breteuil, the castle fell into a bit of a slumber
and it really fell asleep after the Second World War, when
it was more or less abandoned. It depended on the year. But it was at this time that
the castle began to suffer from partial neglect. Then , in 1967, the current owner,
my cousin, Henri-François de Breteuil, got married and took over
the family castle with his wife Séverine de Caz, and together they undertook a major
campaign of restoration and opening to the public. I used to come here when I was very young, when I
was a student, because I was very attached to this castle. I remember that I often came
from Paris on a small scooter and that I lived in a small room in
the castle that did not have heating. But I came to study for my exams,
I came with some friends from time to time , to a
truly abandoned castle. But I wanted to show by that that he would be
saved one day. And of course, the fairy godmother who contributed
wonderfully to this rescue was my wife Séverine,
who loved this castle very much. It was a stroke of luck when
we got married in 1967. And then, we immediately started, if I may say so,
restoring the castle, the furniture, the paintings, the gardens,
all the things that needed doing. And it’s been exactly
51 years that we’ve been working in the castle, but it’s never finished. I often thought to myself, ”
If I open the gates to everyone, we can save the castle.” If I close the gates to everyone,
it’s the death of the castle. For me, the public opening
was of course the saving of the castle, the rebirth of the castle, ultimately,
giving life back to this castle. Over the past 50 years,
the number of visitors has steadily increased. Today, the Château de Breteuil is the
most visited château in Île-de-France after Versailles. The work continues, still
and always. Plans include the restoration
of the left wing of the outbuildings and the creation of a second
gîte and a reception hall. Opening the castle to the public all year round
obviously requires multiplying the offerings to be able to satisfy
visitors in all seasons. So, there are activities
on several Sundays throughout the year. There may be
historical reenactments, whether from 1900 or military reenactments. Every year in the autumn,
several military historical reenactment associations come. There are Napoleon’s grenadiers,
American GIs, and Knights of the Crusades. Everyone is parading, camping,
bivouacking in the gardens. There are also artistic fencing shows
, treasure hunts, plays, concerts,
so entertainment like that, spread over several
weekends throughout the year. Hi. Hi. The cardinal’s secret documents,
history turned upside down first. Come, sir. We’ll get there quickly
. The mouth, decidedly, is in the belly. That’s because at the end of the shipment, I get paid. There, it’s there. I’m coming back to the line.
I’m closing it. I’ll get your brooch back. Artistic fencing
is, in short, the fencing of Kpdp, which we see in films,
in novels, in Kpdp’s plays of the same name. We will look for fencing as it
was used at the time, for example in the 18th century. And from this fencing,
we will create a choreography by creating a duel, that is to say by creating
a sequence where there will perhaps be an injury, perhaps a death,
a disarming, depending on the scenario that we put in place. But it’s really a sequence
that each partner will know so that we obviously have
no accidents, since we work without protection with real weapons. Therefore, everything must
be extremely secure. The qualities of a fencer lie in their ability to
adapt to their partner. That’s very important. To have
such extensive technical knowledge. And then, there needs to be a fundamental understanding
between the two characters, total trust. And of course, afterwards,
physical qualities, coordination and memory. That’s very important. It should be noted that all the kings of France
learned fencing from a fencing master, not only the monarchs, but also
the entire royal family. Not women,
it was forbidden for women, but all the king’s children learned
fencing at the station of a fencing master. Fencing is a French discipline
that is part of etiquette, just like dancing,
horse riding, or music. My friendship with the Marquis
really lasted for many years. We did some Kpdp pieces here
in the Château park, and we immediately had 800, 900 people coming.
And that’s extraordinary. A little further east,
in the Essonne department, near Les Ulysses,
the Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard estate covers 500 hectares
of woods and plains. This working farm
contains a magnificent 17th-century manor house. A
fortified castle already existed on this site as early as the 12th century. It belonged to a certain Eudes
de Montfaucon, of whom no trace remains today. The fortified castle was
succeeded by a lordly mansion which is incorporated into the current buildings. And then, at the beginning of the 17th century, when
François Dupou considered building a pleasure castle, a
castle in the style of the time, the name Montfaucon
became unpleasant. Not by himself,
but because it is the name of the Jibet of Paris, who was not here, of course. The Jibet of Paris was
in what is now the Parc de la Villette. But this homonymy has become
extremely unpleasant for someone who wants to build a pleasant castle. So, permission was requested from the king
to change the name, and the name became Beauregard. Beauregard
simply means: Beautiful view. Very soon afterwards, Beauregard became
Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard, thanks to the chapel in the park,
which dates back to the 14th century. And this chapel was dedicated,
and still is dedicated, to Saint John the Baptist. So, Saint Jean de Beauregard. The current buildings were
built between 1610 and 1637. Remarkably preserved,
the exterior of the castle retains intact the charm and elegance of its
classical 17th-century surroundings. The interior decorations,
put in the style of the 18th century by one of the landowners, Madame Charon,
still bear witness to a refined and delicate art of living. Saint-Jean is a castle
of medium size. But I sometimes say it’s
a small but big castle. It is a small but great castle
in that, despite its average size,
it gathers and brings together all the symbolic elements of a great castle. There is the indoor chapel
and the chapel in the park. There is the vegetable garden, the dovecote, the orangery, the icehouse and huge stables designed for 20 or 30 horses. So, really,
all the symbolic elements are there. And
fortunately, the castle is entirely listed as a
historical monument, from the cellar to the attic, inside and out. Historically, the size of the dovecote
characterized the importance of the lordship. But, curiously, today,
the dovecote of Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard is the largest in Île-de-France. This is surely explained
by the destruction of most dovecotes during the Revolution,
either for symbolic reasons or because they no longer had any use. But in the past,
they were indispensable. A dovecote should be understood
as a chicken coop. That’s right, they used to raise pigeons there
instead of chickens. But the huge advantage of the pigeon over the
chicken is that it will feed itself
in the fields and in the woods. And this building, in fact,
is spectacular on the outside, of course, it is a large tower, but on the inside,
because it has retained all these boxes and its pivoting ladder system
which allowed two men to climb to the very top, since it was necessary to collect
the eggs, the young pigeons, and of course, clean the boxes. And since nothing was wasted,
cleaning the huts produced a very valuable fertilizer for the
vegetable garden, which was publicly called the Colombine. Today,
the emblem of Saint-Jean-de-Beau-Regard is undoubtedly its vegetable garden. Completely enclosed by walls,
it is one of the few to have survived to this day, almost intact. Classified as a remarkable garden in 2005,
it harmoniously combines flowers, fruit trees and rare vegetables. The vegetable garden of Saint-Jean-de-Bourgar
is a miniature copy of the vegetable garden of Versailles. Perhaps the modernization of the garden
and the difference compared to the state of the 17th or 18th century is that this
garden is a profusion of flowers. Today, we seek to combine
production and aesthetics in the garden, and the aesthetic aspect
is linked to flowers. One of the backbones of the garden is
the Poirier counter-slopings. And the pear is truly
the fruit of the 18th century. A great many improvements
have been made to the pears. Many old varieties
are still cultivated today. It’s something we’re somewhat proud of. The passion for plants
was passed down from mother to son. In 40 years, Madame de Curel transformed
the vegetable garden, in particular by setting up
the flower collections. She is also the one who initiated
the creation of the Plant Festival. Founded in 1984, it is now one of the most important horticultural events in France. Plant festivals take place twice
a year, in April and at the end of September. On this occasion, 250 exhibitors,
among the best in Europe, but many come from France,
exhibit rare plants, plants that are difficult to find. But it’s also
a mainstream event. It’s really an event where many
families come with children to discover nature,
even if it’s nature tamed by man, but it’s
truly a celebration of essence. Being able to bring together 20,000 people twice
a year is a great joy for us and gives meaning to this property. Incidentally, it helps
to finance part of the work. The Château grounds host many
other events. Open to young people,
it welcomes school groups and leisure centers and offers fun visits
in the form of treasure hunts to entertain young and old. Despite the scale of the work,
only two gardeners share the maintenance of the park and vegetable garden. Two gardeners to maintain a
20-hectare park is really the bare minimum. For the vegetable garden in particular,
we have a gardener who arrived 35 years ago. He was a very young man. And maintaining the garden all by yourself means it’s
a two-hectare garden. Well, that’s quite an achievement. I’ve been working
in the field for 35 years, so you can’t count the hours. You have to have a passion for a garden
like that and not let it get out of hand. It’s a four-branch vegetable garden,
so four large squares bordered with annual flowers for aesthetics
and some slightly old-fashioned vegetables, but also some recent vegetables
in the squares, all around these crossed lawn flowers. There are fruit crops,
vegetable crops, and then flower crops. Currently,
we have many collections, a collection of Elebore,
a collection of Colmatite, a collection of Peony,
a collection of Iris, some old fruit trees too,
some old vegetables like lentils, patience,
many vegetables like asparagus, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potato, artichokes, courgettes. Otherwise, we have raspberry bushes and
currant bushes. It’s diversified because it allowed
40 people to live in self-sufficiency on the estate. What I like best right now, it’s
May, is the first strawberries,
with varieties like Garillettes and then Céraphine. We’ll start harvesting soon,
so there are a few that are starting to turn red. Varieties that will produce
abundantly enough to make jams. Ankle decompression.
Ankle decompression. My greatest happiness was being
outdoors, not in a city. And then being able to go for a walk whenever I want. On days when I am not working,
I take a short walk in the garden just to look at the flowers,
what is pretty, what I don’t have time for otherwise. You have to be passionate, that’s all there is to it when it comes to
work. Thus ends this overview of
the castles of Hurepoix. Still standing,
despite the ravages of time and wars,
thanks to all the enthusiasts who have allowed these treasures to reach us.

Le Hurepoix dévoile ses châteaux, entre forêts, forteresses et jardins d’exception
Amoureux de la France et du patrimoine, ses trésors n’auront plus de secrets pour vous
👉https://bit.ly/4dnI1h1

00:00 Le territoire du Hurepoix : forêts, plateaux et vallées
03:51 Château de la Madeleine : origines et fortifications
07:06 Les tours, hourds et systèmes défensifs
09:47 Guerres, conflits et ruine du site
11:03 Restauration et citadelle urbaine
13:41 Dourdan : forteresse de Philippe Auguste
17:02 Donjon, fossés et architecture militaire
18:46 Sièges, destructions et reconversions
21:36 Prison, gabelle, transformations
24:18 Vie bourgeoise et album de famille
25:30 Château de Breteuil : une histoire continue depuis le XVIIe siècle
27:30 Jardins, salons, transformations
28:46 Émilie du Châtelet et les Lumières
32:29 Sauvetage du château et ouverture au public
35:20 Animations et reconstitutions
39:05 Saint-Jean de Beauregard : manoir, pigeonnier et architectures
43:25 Le potager remarquable et ses collections
46:22 Entretien, diversité et vie du domaine
50:18 Préservation et héritage du Hurepoix

Du plateau meulier du Hurepoix aux vallées profondes de Chevreuse, ce documentaire nous entraîne à travers un territoire façonné par les seigneuries médiévales, les grands lignages et les guerres qui ont marqué la région.
Le château de la Madeleine révèle l’évolution d’une place forte du Moyen Âge, tandis que Dourdan demeure l’un des plus beaux héritages militaires de Philippe Auguste.
Plus au nord, Breteuil perpétue quatre siècles d’histoire familiale, entre salons du XVIIe siècle, jardins à la française et souvenirs d’Émilie du Châtelet.
Enfin, Saint-Jean de Beauregard déploie un patrimoine exceptionnel : pigeonnier monumental, chapelle, orangerie et un potager remarquable classé, véritable chef-d’œuvre horticole.
Un voyage riche, précis et vivant au cœur des châteaux moins connus d’Île-de-France.

Titre : Les Châteaux du Hurepoix
Réalisation : Orianne Brun-Moschetti
© Tous droits réservés – AMP
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