Château de Matha

What can be seen today of the castle of Matha, in the Charente-Maritime, is an elegant Renaissance pavilion. But the site is steeped in history and has undergone many changes.

Wulgrin, Count of Angoulême, built a first castle here in the 9th century to hold back the Viking raids and protect Angoulême. Centuries and sieges later, Louis IX razed it in 1242, before the Battle of Taillebourg; Matha was then a fief held from the King of England. It changed hands repeatedly between French and English, and in the 16th century the Protestants sacked it. Nothing remains of the feudal castle. A new château was built in the early 17th century and kept by the Bourdeilles family, Counts of Matha, until the Revolution.

At the end of the 18th century it had an entrance pavilion (the one seen today), a chapel and a large main building with outbuildings. The three-storey pavilion, whose wall walk was added in the 19th century, gives an idea of the whole. The large grassy esplanade hosts summer events such as a farmers' market.

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