Château de Dourdan

The castle of Dourdan, in the Essonne, was built around 1222 for Philip Augustus on the site of a wooden fortress built by Hugh Capet. Kings and great lords owned it in turn. At the end of the 17th century it was given to the Duke of Orléans, who turned it into a prison, a role it kept until 1852.

Listed as a historic monument in 1964, the fortress is a remarkable example of military architecture that has kept its curtain walls, towers, ditches and, above all, a round keep standing apart from the castle itself. The whole defensive system is therefore still visible.

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