Château d'Angers

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The Château d’Angers is a medieval castle in Angers, western France, built on the River Maine in the Loire Valley. It began in the 9th century when the Counts of Anjou built a fortress to defend the region from Normans. The first castle started under Fulk III and later grew to its bigger form in the 13th century.

In the 12th century the castle became part of the Angevin Empire. In 1204, Philip II of France conquered the area, and a new, larger castle was built in the early 13th century during the minority of Louis IX. Louis IX rebuilt it with white stone and black slate and added 17 semicircular towers. He gave the castle to his brother Charles in 1246. In 1352, King John II gave the castle to Louis, who became Count of Anjou, and in 1373 Louis had the famous Apocalypse Tapestry made there.

Louis II and Yolande d’Aragon added a chapel and royal rooms between 1405 and 1412. The chapel is a Sainte-Chapelle with a relic from the True Cross. In the early 15th century, the future Charles VII sought sanctuary there with Joan of Arc. Catherine de’ Medici restored the fortress in 1562, but Henry III later lowered the towers and removed the battlements. The castle stayed a military outpost and was kept ready with artillery on the upper terraces.

In the late 18th and 19th centuries the castle served as a garrison, prison, and armory, and the Duke of Wellington trained there. It was used through the World Wars and was damaged in World War II by a bombing and an ammunition explosion. A serious fire in January 2009 damaged the Royal Logis, but the Apocalypse Tapestry survived. Restoration was planned to finish in 2009.

Today the castle is owned by the City of Angers and is a museum. It houses the oldest and largest collection of medieval tapestries in the world, including the Apocalypse Tapestry. The castle has never been conquered by an invading force. Its outer wall is about 3 meters thick and 660 meters long, protected by 17 towers. Each tower is about 18 meters across, and the site covers around 20,000 square meters. The Tour du Moulin is the only tower that still keeps its original height.