Château de Dampierre

In the village of Dampierre, a few cubits from a monumental church, emerges, out of the rushing waters and the groves, an architectural and impressive ensemble, of such elegance that it seemed to belong only to the banks of the Loire or the valleys of the Ile-de-France. From these constructions, it still blocks today a wide esplanade bordered by high forests, and inflected on the sides. "It is entered through a monumental wrought iron gate from the School of Nancy, in the 18th century, in the manner of that of the Town Hall of Troyes. In this vast space, more than a hundred meters from it, stands out, high towards the sky, a square tower, quartered by 4 turrets with pepperpot or domed roofs. It has a very grand air and can be considered as one of the most beautiful examples of French fortification of the 15th century. Formerly preceded by a drawbridge under which flowed the water from the moats surrounding the feudal castle, now filled in and demolished, it was the entrance. It is crossed by a vaulted passageway which leads to the courtyard of honour at the end of which stands out, over a length of 40 metres and a height of 28, a stone building with 2 floors pierced with 11 openings, including 3 on a barely protruding avant-corps, the whole topped with a Mansard roof with 3 dormers whose arch of the central one, attached to 2 flamed vases, alludes to the arms of the Picot de Dampierre. The contact of these two architectures, one feudal and defensive, the other pleasant and welcoming, makes this domain a privileged residence characteristic of an era without austerity whose majesty would have seemed even more powerful, if the formidable keep of the 12th century, demolished in 1810, still dominated it from its massive height. Land of invasion, this region has been trodden by the steps of conquerors at all times: the Romans settled there, Germanic bands took root there, the Franks conquered it, feudalism made it a high-ranking lordship whose guard the counts entrusted to the most valiant of their vassals. It came under the castellany of Rosnay, and was itself the chief town of a castellany on which 70 fiefs depended. It was owned by important figures, lords of Saint-Dizier, viscounts of Troyes, constables of Champagne, from whom, through alliances of high lineage, several kings, emperors and princes of France, Spain, Austria, Germany and England came. Several dynasties succeeded one another there. The founder of the first, that of Dampierre-Saint-Dizier, was, in 980, Hildevent. Through his marriage to Mahaud de Bourbon, his great-grandson Gui II gave birth to the branch of Dampierre-Bourbon. On the death of his eldest son Archambaud, which occurred in 1219, whose daughter married Thibaud IV Count of Champagne, King of Navarre, it passed to his brother William II. In 1223, William took as his wife Marguerite de Flandres who inherited the county in 1244, when he had died. She died in 1280, leaving one of her sons, Gui III, as her heir. With him, the Dampierre-Flanders dynasty began. It was her granddaughter Philippine, wife of the King of England Edward, who obtained from her husband the pardon of the burghers of Calais in 1347. The third son of Marguerite de Flandres, Jean I, was Lord of Dampierre in 1250. In 1258, he left the castellany to his brother Jean II who kept it until 1307. It then fell to his daughter Marguerite, who, since 1305, was the wife of Gaucher VI of Châtillon. With them began the Dampierre-Châtillon dynasty, which was made famous by Jacques 1st, Admiral of France, killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. It lasted until 1472 and disappeared with Valéran, whose eldest daughter had married in 1469 Philippe 1st de Lannoy, knight of the Golden Fleece and chamberlain of Charles V of Germany, who founded the Dampierre-Lannoy dynasty. The last male lord of this family, Pierre II, died in 1522, without leaving any children. He was buried in the church of Dampierre, of which his tomb is one of the most beautiful ornaments. His sister Jeanne, and her husband François d'Haraucourt sold it in 1526, to Louis Picot, lord of Pommeuse, 1st President of the Court of Aids of Paris. Thus ended the uninterrupted lineage of the holders of the lordship and ceased to flow in the veins of the new owner the blood of Champagne which, for 500 years, had invigorated the most illustrious families of France and Europe. Louis Picot introduced the Picot de Dampierre dynasty in the 16th century. Louis II had the title of baron. It was under his son Eustache, a man-at-arms, that around 1646 the barony was raised to a marquisate: François Picot, master of the cavalry camp, Jean-Auguste, ship captain, Pierre, brigadier of the king's armies, captain of the king's hunts and pleasures, passed this distinction down to the latter's son, Count Auguste-Henri-Marie, general of the armies of the Republic, who died for France in 1793. He had 3 boys and 1 girl. The marquisate passed to his son Charles, aide-de-camp to General Dessoles, under Napoleon I, his brother-in-law, peer of France, who had replaced him on the General Council, and who was gloriously killed, at the head of the Mobiles of the Aube, at the battle of Bagneux, in 1870. He had no children. The castle and the property of Dampierre then entered by filiation into the family of Rochefoucauld, because of Louise Picot, daughter of the general of the Revolution, mother of the wife of Jules de la Rochefoucauld, Duke of Estissac. Her son, Roger de la Rochefoucauld-Ségur, last marquis of Dampierre, left it to his daughters, the countesses of Kergolay and Amélie de Mérode, who gave it up in 1907 to sell it to the Viscount Beurret, a great collector of 18th century furniture and art and who undertook considerable restoration and decoration work in Dampierre. The castle returned to its original family in the 1930s when a branch of the Picot de Dampierre family, the Aligny, bought the castle and kept it until 2021. The castle is open from July 1 to 30 and from September 1 to 30, 2024 from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. as well as on Sunday, September 22, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the occasion of the European Heritage Days for free visits to the park and a big concert at 7 p.m. with 120 singing musicians to perform Karl Orff's Carmina burana.

Last updated on 19/09/2024 - Office de Tourisme du Nogentais et de la Vallée de la Seine