Château de Pouzauges

About

Pouzauges Castle is a former castle, today ruined, whose remains stand on the French commune of Pouzauges in the department of Vendée. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries by the Viscounts of Thouars, and dismantled by Du Guesclin in 1372, it is a fine example of the military architecture of Bas-Poitou, comparable to that of the castles of Niort, Tiffauges, Noirmoutier and Châteaumur. The castle was inhabited by Catherine de Thouars, wife of Gilles de Rais, in the 15th century. The latter, however, never resided there, preferring the castle of Tiffauges.