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Guédelon Castle

You will find a video presentation at the bottom of this page

Let's go to neighbouring Burgundy, not far from L'Echappée Belle, where you'll find the castle of Guédelon, a veritable open-air laboratory.

It is a kind of educational site.
Guédelon's motto is "build to understand".

You will understand how the castle and its surrounding buildings were built using the techniques of 13th century builders.
For more than twenty years, Guédelon has chosen to build using the same techniques.

This adventure began in 1997 in the heart of an iron sandstone quarry typical of the Puisaye region. The site is also surrounded by forest, which provides the raw materials needed to build such a structure. In the 13th century, the means of transport were not the same as today and the transport of wood and stones was very costly.

Year after year, we can follow the development of the Guédelon site and admire the work done with wood, stone and all the materials used at that time.
Above all, clay, because this is a land of potters. It was used to make tiles, but also roofing tiles.

At Guédelon, we forget the progress of the last eight centuries and go back in time to the Middle Ages, when castles were built by men without cranes but with "squirrel cages", using the strength of their legs and arms.

Here we are taking our time to make progress on this site, as long as we respect the ancestral methods.

To give you an idea, it took two seasons to build the chapel.

Along the way you will see demonstrations of tool making, stone cutting, tile making and rope making using materials found on site. You can also visit the garden with medicinal plants known and used at the time, as well as the orchard and vegetable garden, the products of which can be tasted in the restaurant on the site.

The seigniorial residence is finished, the castle is well advanced, but new projects promise a bright future for this architectural ensemble with the construction of the village and the medieval church.

Do you know...?

- Guédelon receives more than 300,000 visitors a year. That's as many as the castles of Amboise, Cheverny, Villandry...

- If you would like to learn more about the techniques demonstrated during your visit, Guédelon offers various courses such as stone cutting. These courses run from Thursday to the weekend over 3 or 4 days.

- Guédelon is the fictitious property of Guilbert Courtenay, known as Guilbert de Guédelon, a low-ranking lord, vassal of Jean de Toucy, himself a vassal of the King of France.

If you are with your four-legged friend, he is welcome on the site, kept on a leash.

And if you want to extend the discovery of local crafts, go to Saint-Amand en Puisaye where you can admire the local pottery, especially during the pottery festival which takes place over two days at the end of June.

Website of Guédelon