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Welcome to the website of
“Château de Coussay”
1 allée du cardinal
86110 COUSSAY
05 49 50 43 48
thibault001@orange.fr

Coussay Castle is a “prioral” castle built by Bishop Denis Briçonnet who was prior of Coussay and bishop of Saint Malo, Toulon and Lodève. Indeed, around 1520, returning from an embassy in Italy for several years to Pope Leon Xth, “seduced by the beauty of the place, he decided to build his home there”.
This is how this castle was born, a mixture, by its plan, of a protective and closed past, and of a nascent style open to the countryside, inspired by the innovative beauty of the Italian Renaissance. It is one of the monuments of the first French Renaissance.
A little less than a century later, it was inhabited by Armand-Jean Duplessis, then Bishop of Luçon, before he became the famous Cardinal of Richelieu in 1622.

The exterior of the castle is freely visible all year by walking around the moat on the private path.
Free of charge guided tours in the castle garden are organized by the Tourist Office of Haut Poitou (https://tourisme-hautpoitou.fr/chateau/chateau-de-coussay).

During the 2024 European Heritage Days, it has been possible to welcome and guide 378 visitors in the garden and inside the castle. Such visits can also be arranged on request, preferably for groups.

photo
photo Elise Paget