Thouars, Marie's palace... Marie the conceited
And also
The tops
The primitive medieval castle was entirely destroyed in the 17th century, replaced by the current one.
Marie de La Tour, Louis II de La Trémoille's wife, decided to rebuild it: the building site began in 1635. The lady didn't like the medieval fortress!
The brand new house was made of a main building flanked by detached houses. The courtyard was lined by a horseshoe shape portico.
At the end of the northern detached house was found the chapel, raised for Louis II de La Trémoille and his wife Gabrielle of Bourbon in the beginning of the 16th century.
80 years after, Charlotte of Nassau, Claude de La Trémoille's wife, a strict Protestant, ordered the chapel destruction... no! Wait... He finally changed his mind. And it was restored in 1875. Phew!
For the record, the castle cost the colossal sum of 1 200 000 livres to Marie de La Tour!
At that time, vast terraces overlooked river Thouet. The huge greenhouse was full of 200 orange-trees, a collection bigger than Versailles one!
Wells were dug (30 metres deep): they brought water to the castle. All mods cons, in short!