A little history of Javarzay castle
And also
The tops
Javarzay's land is pretty old, because they found a Gallo-Roman city (belonging to sir Gavarcius) on the location of the current castle. The place fell to the Chaunay lords, and the medieval fortress was transformed into a nice Renaissance residence, in the 15th century, when Rochechouart family bought it.
The building site began in 1514, managed by architect Alexandre Robin, from Tours. But when François de Rochechouart, died in 1530, the castle wasn’t finished! His widow Blanche d’Aumont saw it through.
The legend says king Henri IV and his wife queen Margot were hosted by Louis de Rochechouart and Sylvie de La Rochefoucauld, in 1586, in their brand new castle: indeed, here, we were in a Protestant land...
Fell to the La Rochefoucauld, Javarzay then fell to Jérôme Phélypeaux, count of Pontchartrain: his wife brought it as a dowry.
By marriage, the land fell to Chrétien-Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes. This political chap tried everything to save king Louis XVI’s life, during his trial against the Revolutionaries... But Chrétien was guillotined in 1794.
Several families succeeded one another, and in 1820, they destroyed the main building and the surrounding wall. In 1854, they raised an orangery: the current Javarzay was completed...
Finally, in 1982, the city bought the castle and restored it: nowadays, it houses a small museum dedicated to headdress and bonnet!