Our next castle and town were Fougeres, only a few miles down the road from Vitre. Another medieval castle and town, only this one dating back to the 1100's. Among the many who besieged, took it, and destroyed it, was Henry II Plantagenet. But it always got rebuilt. Historically, Fougeresians always knew it would become a major tourist destination and they'd get national funding.
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One Fougeres' two aires is just below the castle; it was a warm
day, so we parked in the semi-shade and rested; don't want to
get castled-out before leaving France |
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Next morning: a formidable looking place; but as Ghengis Khan once said, no wall is stronger than the hearts that defend it |
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The local river was re-routed to form a moat |
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Not one of the vulnerable points, one supposes |
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Moatley view |
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Now we're trudging up the hill to the town; note wall communicating with town |
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Anyhow, here's a fuller view of the castle and environs; from town; note hill behind castle |
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Ditto |
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So now we have walked the town and the Medieval village and two churches and are back in the hole where the castle is located |
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One of the precepts of military strategy is to always seek the high ground |
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Pretty castle |
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It's wall stretched right up into the city; attackers, one surmises, could take the city, march along the wall right up to the castle, and then rain arrows down on the castle's defenders from both town and the hill behind; maybe call in an air-strike; during some wars, even before gunpowder, Fougeres simply surrendered without a fight; pretty castle, nonetheless |
1 comment:
Love this castle. I have never heard of it before. We love walled cities and their accompanying castles. Gotta put this one on our list.
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