Le château de Talmont

Home of Richard the Lionheart...

< B >Talmont castle, an emblematic site of medieval architectural history, is now a listed historic monument.

The castle reveals its secrets through a variety of activities.

In summer, from Monday to Friday, discover the spectacular destinies of the fortress's most illustrious occupants through a variety of shows. Put yourself in the shoes of our ancestors with medieval workshops (costumes, calligraphy, crossbow, knight's trail) and guided tours. Late-night visits on Tuesday evenings (booking required).

In days gone by, the sea came right up to the foot of Talmont Castle, home of Richard the Lionheart.
Now 6 kilometres away, it has left this ancient medieval fortress (11th and 12th centuries) to watch over the town of Talmont-Saint-Hilaire.
The seat of a principality dependent on the Dukes of Aquitaine, the medieval castle was built at the end of a ria.

William the Bald became the first Lord of Talmont. With him, a wall was built around the rocky promontory.
Buildings were then erected: a large seigneurial dwelling with flats, followed by a chapel and a tower.
Following the remarriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry II Plantagenet, King of England, their son Richard the Lionheart took the title of Prince Talmont.

Richard the Lionheart added three towers to the original enclosure, followed by a second enclosure, an 8-metre thick triangular spur, a square châtelet known as the "assomoir" and a curtain wall.
In the second half of the 13th century, due to a lack of descendants, the Mauléons lost the castle and its territory, which passed into the hands of the Viscounts of Thouars.
After the siege of La Rochelle in 1628, the castle was dismantled on the orders of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu.