Château de Masseuil

The fortress of Masseuil, in the Vienne, was built from 1443 by agreement between the chapter of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand, the inhabitants of Masseuil and René of Anjou, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, as a treaty of 7 April 1443 attests. It allowed the chapter, then at its height, to shelter its people and its most vulnerable possessions.

Originally the fortress had a large curtain wall surrounded by deep moats, a fortified gate with a drawbridge and buildings inside used as refuges. The castle was demolished around 1580 and rebuilt soon after. Two 15th-century curtain-wall towers survive and are protected as historic monuments.

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