Photo : Tonzil54 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Château de Doumely
The Château de Doumely, in the Ardennes, was built around the 15th or 16th century on 13th-century foundations; some attribute it to Tristan de Failly, who inherited the seigneury in 1569. Works were carried out at the end of the 17th century, and the outbuildings were built in the early 18th, including a 70-metre sheepfold that housed the flock, the fodder and the equipment for processing produce on an almost industrial scale.
The château was partly restored at the end of the 20th century by its present owner, who had bought a real ruin. It bears the marks of changes made by its successive occupants: filled-in moats, new openings in the façade and destroyed interior floors. It was listed as a historic monument, and the outbuildings were registered, in 1984. During both world wars it served as a forward command post, a field hospital and a prison, as some inscriptions still visible on the walls show.
