Photo : Wikimedia Commons
Château de Gombervaux
The Château de Gombervaux hides in a valley a few kilometres from Vaucouleurs, in the Meuse. Technically a 14th-century fortified house, it was built between 1338 and 1357 by Geoffroy de Nancy-Lenoncourt, to whom the King of France had granted the fief. It is one of the few castle sites of that period still standing in Lorraine. In 1367 the Treaty of Vaucouleurs was signed here between Charles V and the Duke of Lorraine.
The plan is a quadrilateral with a round tower at each corner, dominated by a five-storey gate keep. The moats are fed by three springs. The building was abandoned as a residence in 1769 and long plundered for its stone.
Listed as a historic monument in 1994, it was in ruins in 1989 when the Gombervaux association was formed to save it. Restoration continues, such as the wooden portcullis put back in 2017. The association offers guided tours, events and stone-carving courses.
