Château de Bruniquel
Encyclopedia
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
in the French commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Bruniquel
Bruniquel
Bruniquel is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-Geography:The tiny fortified village of 561 inhabitants is at an altitude of 250 metres by the river Aveyron....
, in the Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...
département of the Midi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées
Midi-Pyrénées is the largest region of metropolitan France by area, larger than the Netherlands or Denmark.Midi-Pyrénées has no historical or geographical unity...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Legend has it that the Merovingian queen Brunehaut
Brunehaut
Brunehaut is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Hainaut. It consists of the former municipalities of Brunehaut, Bléharies, Guignies, Hollain, Jollain-Merlin, Wez-Velvain, Lesdain, Laplaigne, Rongy and Howardries....
founded the castle in the 6th century.
Name
The castle is often called Châteaux de Bruniquel (i.e. castles, plural). This is because, two centuries after its construction, the castle was shared between two branches of the Comminges house, hence "château vieux" (old castle) and "château jeune" (young castle).Architecture
The "château vieux" still has its keepKeep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
from the 12th century, an era when the castle was the property of the Counts of Toulouse
Counts of Toulouse
The first Counts of Toulouse were the administrators of the city and its environs under the Merovingians. No succession of such royal appointees is known, though a few names survive to the present...
, and its residence from the 13th century. It also has a Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
gallery; other parts have undergone extensive remodelling in the 18th and 19th centuries. The keep is named after Brunehaut (la tour de la Reine Brunehaut).
The "château jeune" dominates the valley of the Aveyron
Aveyron
Aveyron is a département in southern France named after the Aveyron River.- History :Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790....
from a height of 80m (~260 ft). It was built between 1485 and 1510 and was remodelled during the baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
period. Its Renaissance gallery has six arcades.
The whole site has been classified as a historic monument (monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
) since 1840 and has recently been restored.
Trivia
The site was a location for the 1975 film Le Vieux FusilLe vieux fusil
Le vieux fusil is a 1975 French film directed by Robert Enrico, and starring Philippe Noiret, Romy Schneider and Jean Bouise. It won the 1976 César Award for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Music, and was nominated for best director, supporting actor, writing, cinematography, editing and sound...
, directed by Robert Enrico
Robert Enrico
Robert Georgio Enrico was a French film director and scriptwriter.He was born in Liévin, Pas-de-Calais, in the north of France.-Filmography as director:* Fait d'hiver...
and starring Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider
Romy Schneider was an Austrian-born German film actress who also held French citizenship.-Early life:Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach in Nazi-era Vienna, six months after the Anschluss, into a family of actors that included her paternal grandmother Rosa Albach-Retty, her Austrian...
and Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret was a French film actor.-Biography:Noiret's father was in the clothes trade. Philippe was an indifferent scholar and attended several prestigious Paris schools, including the Lycée Janson de Sailly. He failed several times to pass his baccalauréat exams, so he decided to study...
. The well now seen in the centre is not original; it was placed there for the film.
External links
Sources
- www.culture.gouv.fr, accessed 29 Jan 2007