Château de Vincennes

About

The Château de Vincennes (also known as Vieux Fort de Vincennes) is a fortress located in Vincennes, in the eastern suburbs of Paris, whose construction lasted from the 14th to the 17th century. It is the largest royal castle remaining in France and, because of the height of its dungeon, one of the highest plain fortresses in Europe. The Château de Vincennes is the seat of the Defence Historical Service.

The fortress is located near Paris, about eight kilometers from the Ile de la Cité, served by the Vincennes train station on line A of the RER by metro line 1 at the Château de Vincennes station. Unlike most castles, it was not located on a hill or on the edge of a cliff, but on a limestone plateau. The water supply for the moats was provided by the Ru de Montreuil, which descended from the plateau de Montreuil.

The overflow of this stream fell into Lake Saint-Mandé. In the Middle Ages, the site was covered with a giboyous forest. Since the 19th century, the surroundings of the castle have been urbanised: the old forest remains partly in the wood of Vincennes, whose extent is the responsibility of Paris.