Château d'Etampes

This keep of the former royal castle of Étampes, now vanished, was built around 1130-1150. The tower served as a prison for Queen Ingeborg, the wife of Philip Augustus, who repudiated her the day after their wedding night.

The architecture of the keep, distinctive for its quatrefoil plan, is shown in the famous medieval manuscript 'Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry'. Preserved to almost its full height (about 27 metres), the keep is built of rubble stone with dressed quoins.

← Other sites in Essonne