Malesherbes Castle is located in the municipality of Malesherbois in the Loiret region, 18 kilometers northeast of Pithiviers.
A first castle was built in the fourteenth century on the wooded territory that became the property of John Montagu, superintendent of finance of Charles VI, before being acquired by the families of Graville then Balzac Entragues. Thus at the end of the sixteenth century, Francois Balzac Entragues wife a former mistress of King Charles IX of this union was born their daughter Catherine, who is a favorite of King Henry IV.
More than a century later, in 1718, the castle in poor condition was bought by Guillaume de Lamoignon de Blancmesnil, General Counsel to the Parliament of Paris. He asks Peter Vigne de Vigny, Robert de Cotte collaborator, architect of the king, to restore the building. The ditches are filled, a classical facade is performed while the corner towers are preserved.
Lawyer and botanist, his son William Christian Lamoignon Malesherbes is developing the 100-hectare large park in 1770. Hundreds of various species of trees are planted. Defender of Louis XVI was guillotined Malesherbes in 1794. The area thus became the nineteenth century a sort of pilgrimage for royalists.
Besides the castle itself, several remarkable buildings are still preserved in the park: a tithe barn of the fourteenth century which were stored taxes paid in kind, a farmhouse where lived the brother of the writer Chateaubriand, a chapel and finally a large loft which could accommodate 8,000 pigeons.
Finally, note that we went to the castle via a paved road whose starting point is marked by an obelisk.
Protected as historical monuments, the chateau de Malesherbes is still privately owned.
The area (mainly the dependencies of the park) is open to visitors from mid-July to mid-August, during Heritage Days or by appointment. Price: € 1. Information +33 2 38 34 98 18.
